asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries if he is aware of the anxiety caused to the farming community by his Department's delay in announcing the level of beef cattle incentive scheme grants and of the disadvantaged areas scheme headage payments for this year; and if he will make a statement on this matter.

I would refer the Deputy to the statement I made about these grants when introducing the Estimate for my Department on 2nd June.

It has not been clearly stated yet whether there are any new areas added to the designated areas for headage payments. This is the relevant part of the question.

The Deputy asked if the Minister is aware of the anxiety caused to the farming community by his Department's delay in announcing the level of beef cattle incentive scheme grants and of the disadvantaged areas scheme headage payments for this year and if he will make a statement on the matter. There is nothing in it about extension of the area. It refers only to the level of grants. If the Deputy wants information of the kind he is now seeking by way of supplementary he must put down a separate question.