Vol. 463 No. 3
350 Mr. D. Ahern asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry if he will ensure adequate funding to Teagasc in order to allow private colleges such as the College of Horticulture, Termon-feckin, County Louth to develop their resources in order that their input to agriculture and horticultural education may be maximised; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6068/96]
Under section 4 of the Agricultural (Research, Training and Advice) Act, 1988 Teagasc is charged, inter alia, with the provision of educational services in agriculture and horticulture.
In 1996, Teagasc will receive a grantin-aid of £45.882 million from my Department, representing an increase of 2.7 per cent on 1995. It is expected that the organisation will receive a further £25 million approximately from EU and other sources.
It is a matter for Teagasc to prioritise the allocation of the resources at its disposal to the various programmes and activities for which it is responsible.
In relation to the private colleges, I would refer the Deputy to my reply to Questions Nos. 77, 227, 237 on 30 January 1996. I am pleased that, in the meantime, Teagasc has decided to allocate £200,000 to these colleges for maintenance works.
