andMr. Bruton asked the Minister for Agriculture if he is aware that, under the EEC draft directive on aid for drainage in the west of Ireland, it is envisaged by the EEC that, in the event of their proposal being accepted, the Government will provide in 1978, (a) 1.4 million units of account for arterial drainage and (b) 5.4 million units of account for field drainage; if he will undertake that this money will definitely be available this year; and, if so, when a supplementary estimate will be introduced to provide the money, and, if not, why.

28.

andMr. Bruton asked the Minister for Agriculture if he has sought in the current price negotiations to have the EEC proposal for aid to drainage in the west of Ireland accepted by the Ministers as part of the price package; and, if not, why.

With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, I propose to take Question Nos. 27 and 28 together.

The proposal to provide financial assistance for drainage in the west of Ireland was included in the prices package agreed to by the Council of Ministers on 12 May.

Certain procedures, including formal submission of a work programme for approval by the EEC Commission, must be followed before the drainage measure can be implemented. These procedures have already been initiated and I hope to have them completed with the minimum of delay so that the measure can be put into effect as early as possible.

Adequate funds are available in the respective votes to meet any expenditure likely to arise in the present year.

Can the Minister state positively that the 1.4 million units of account for arterial drainage envisaged in the directive will in fact be spent this year in Ireland?

The programme which has been proposed and has been accepted by the Council of Ministers is a five-year programme. At the end of the five-year period the scheme will be reviewed and if extra funds are required to complete the work in hands, I expect further funds will be made available.

No, that is not the question. I am asking if, as envisaged in the directive 1.4 million units of account in arterial drainage will be spent in this country in 1978? Will that be done?

I cannot say that will be done in this year because, as the Deputy will appreciate, certain planning has to be completed, and a detailed programme of work for the implementation of the Commission's proposals has to be submitted to the Commission. That has to be vetted by the Standing Committee on Agricultural Structures. That is being done at the moment by officials of my Department and quite an amount of work is already completed. Applications must then be submitted by the farmers in the areas concerned in the 12 western counties and these will take some time to process.

The question of applications by farmers does not arise in the case of arterial drainage. Is the Minister saying that the scheme, as far as arterial drainage is concerned, will not get off the ground in 1978?

It is a damn good scheme and it will be implemented.

What the Deputy suggests is not true. I understand that the arterial drainage scheme is the responsibility of the Office of Public Works and I have nothing to do with it. There is one scheme that is ready to go ahead immediately. As regards land reclamation, I should think it would be about September before we are able to get a scheme under this heading off the ground. Applications have to be processed through the normal channels. That will take a few weeks. We cannot be expected to start immediately on that side of the programme.

Would a supplementary estimate be necessary?

No.

Questions Nos. 29 and 30 are postponed.