I have been informed that it is now proposed to sell 50 acres of land at Ballyhaise, County Cavan. When news circulated last week of the proposed sale it caused much anger in Cavan and the catchment area of Ballyhaise Agricultural College. The way the board of Teagasc — not the inspectors — arranged this sale raises many questions. The board organised the sale without any consultation and it has no mandate to do so. Ballyhaise Agricultural College was established almost 70 years ago as a training college for the north-east and north-west region. It is one of the two colleges in that region. Saint Patrick's College in Monaghan also provides excellent training.
Ballyhaise Agricultural College has 600 acres of land of which 150 acres is under plantation and enterprise work is undertaken on the remaining land. For the past 70 years students have received excellent training in agricultural management in regard to farming or agribusiness.
It is ironic that on the page this sale was advertised in the farming section of The Anglo Celt there was a photograph of the regional manager of Golden Vale making a presentation of student of the year award to a student of that college. That highlights the catchment area the college serves. The college enterprises comprise dairying of 90 cows, a suckler cow unit of 75 animals, a calf to beef unit, a pig unit of 100 sows and all the farrowers are fattened, a poultry unit of 100 hens and 1,000 chickens, a sheep unit of 700 animals and a small horse breeding unit. All the activities are part and parcel of farming in the north-east and north-west regions. Young boys and girls who attend the college receive a good foundation on how to manage a farm.
People may say that the sale of 50 acres will not matter. However, I consider this sale to be the beginning of the break-up of that marvellous college. I am supported in that view by all the rural organisations. Local papers reported that local farm organisations, including the IFA, the ICMSA and Macra na Feirme, are also opposed to this sale.
The Teagasc spokesman stated that in addition to the Ballyhaise disposal the board had sold 150 acres at Oak Park Research Station, it was selling a farm in Glindwell, County Galway in addition to a number of sites not required, a research tillage farm near Athy and a number of houses. That spokesman said that those sales were being undertaken as part of an overall organisation efficiency plan. The advice young farmers are receiving from Teagasc is that to become more efficient they should sell their land. This is unbelievable and unacceptable. That college has survived for 70 years in good and bad times. When we are supposed to be developing and preparing for Common Agricultural Policy reform Tegasc sends a signal to hard pressed farmers in that region to sell their land. This is not acceptable because in Cavan pollution is a major problem and all the land is needed for the disposal of slurry from the enterprises to which I referred.
If the sale of this 50 acres proceeds some of the enterprises to which I referred will have to curtail their operations substantially as there will not be sufficient land on which to spread this slurry. Some of this land is close to the college's milking and pig units.
I have no objection to the sale of an unoccupied house on the property. I would like to see that house occupied, perhaps, by a couple with children. Teagasc raised £1.5 million when part of its headquarters in Sandymount was sold but it is still selling property that does not belong to it. What it is doing is contrary to what the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste said here about a forthnight ago that no further State assets would be disposed of during the term of office of this Government. I appeal to the Minister not to proceed with this sale.
