Can the Minister say whether the banking institutions have authority from the Department to ask participating farmers to sell some of their land as a condition for developing it?

The management of the scheme is entirely in the hands of the lending institutions — it is a matter for them.

Do the lending institutions discuss this with the Department of Agriculture, and what is the attitude of the Department?

As I said in my original reply, the whole administration of the scheme, including the proposition to sell pockets of land when such sales would render a farmer viable, is a matter for the lending institutions. We have had consultations with them.

Is the scheme being monitored by the Department and does the Minister regard this as being a valid procedure? Does he think that before farmers can benefit from the scheme the institutions should insist on the sale of land? Has the Minister a monitoring system on this?

There is a committee involving some people from the Department who are looking at the schemes on a day-to-day basis. There is general agreement on the approach of the lending institutions.

Have the Department a view that benefiting farmers would sell some of the land?

The lending institutions have to look at the options open to individuals. The scheme is limited and the end result of it should be to make farmers viable. If a farmer has a fair number of acres and he has a pocket which he can sell and whose sale would make him viable——

Would the Minister agree that a banking institution is not the best type of body to make decisions in that regard — that the Department and the expertise available to them have a far better interest?

We have an interest. I do not agree with the Deputy in regard to the banking institutions. We must be fair to the lending institutions and, as all Deputies know, we have had a fair bit of dealing with the lending institutions and have found them reasonably sympathetic.

I am not worried about their sympathy. I am worried about the availability of expertise to them.