asked the Minister for Agriculture the amount of over-capacity in our meat plants for the annual slaughterings in 1982.

On the basis of weekly slaughterings the extent of over-capacity ranged from 32 per cent to 88 per cent at various stages throughout the year.

Will the Minister agree that the alarming figure he has quoted is due to factories under EEC regulations being asked to reconstruct and instal sophisticated and expensive killing lines in anticipation of increased throughout which did not materialise? Many of those factories are in difficulty because of the small number of animals on offer. If they had continued with the small killing lines of a couple of hundred animals per day they would still be in business.

The Deputy may be correct but I should like to assure the House that the Department are doing everything they can to increase cattle numbers and towards this end have in operation a calf premium scheme, a suckler cow premium scheme, calf heifer grants, and the headage scheme in disadvantaged areas. A farmer in those areas can get as much as £169 for an extra heifer in calf while a farmer outside those areas gets £118.

Has the Minister any information as to the number of new plants that opened in 1982, or if any opened, and the percentage of the slaughtering capacity those new units represent?

I do not have that information. The slaughterings on a quarterly basis for 1982 were: JanuaryMarch, 11,000 head per week; April-June, 13,000; July-September, 23,000 and October-December, 25,000.

If we have between 30 per cent and 50 per cent over-capacity for the year, will the Minister agree that that is another example of bad forward planning between the different agencies? What consultation takes place between the IDA who provide grants for the factories, the ICC who provide funds for equipment, and the Department of Agriculture? Judging by those figures it appears that there is a lot of bungling taking place instead of forward planning in the meat processing trade.

It is probable that they were budgeting ahead for a boom situation that did not materialise.

The Department of Agriculture must bear the blame for that. They fell down badly on this.

In the Department we are limited in what we can do. We can make certain recommendations to farmers in the hope that they will increase their herd numbers but we cannot compel them to do that.

(Limerick-West): Will the Minister indicate if there are any plans in the Department to utilise the over-capacity? In view of the huge number unemployed here surely this is a way of putting people to work.

In the Department we are doing everything possible to ensure that the maximum number is slaughtered here. With that in mind we are giving every encouragement to those embarking on the vacuum packed type of operation which has proved so satisfactory particularly on the German market.