asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries if he will make a statement on the proposed closure of the AI station at Clarecastle, County Clare.

The operation of the Clarecastle AI station is a matter for Golden Vale Co-operative Creameries Ltd., who purchased the station from the Dairy Disposal Company in December, 1974 and they have not informed me that they propose to close the station.

Is the Minister aware that it has been published in the Press that they intend to close this station and that the Clare farmers are completely opposed to the closure?

It is no longer the property of the Dairy Disposal Company. This is a co-operative in which the farmer should have more influence than I have because it is owned by farmers.

I appreciate that it is now owned by Golden Vale Co-operative Society but it was set up by the Dairy Disposal Company under the Department of Agriculture. Is the Minister aware that this is a very necessary service in a dairy county such as Clare? Is he aware that Golden Vale are charging £1 per head more for the service than any other AI station?

This is a case of farmers doing something on themselves. Surely I cannot be blamed for that. They insisted on owning this co-op and they are running it.

The Minister should have some concern for the farmers of Clare since he allowed them to join the Golden Vale Co-op. Surely he should intervene on their behalf in order to preserve this service for them.

If farmers want to do something that hurts themselves I should not be expected to intervene to prevent them. Was I wrong in the first instance in allowing them to buy this property, take it over and run it themselves for themselves?

It is not as simple as that. The Minister has said the farmers want to close it but the Clare farmers do not want it closed despite what the Golden Vale management and their advisers say. The farmers who are concerned with this particular station are the Clare farmers and they oppose the closure. Therefore, the Minister should insist that it is not closed.

I have no power to do so. It is their property. I cannot intervene.

The Minister has said that he cannot intervene if the farmers themselves want it closed. The farmers do not want the station closed.

I have not been informed that——

We are having repetition and argument.

The farmers' organisations will inform the Minister very quickly.