Grants for horticultural producer groups
Kirk asked about grants to encourage co-operative marketing. Hegarty outlined existing farm and glasshouse grants and noted £66,000 had been made available to the co-operative.
Has the Minister of State any plans to look at the producer group grant scheme at present operated by his Department to encourage horticulturalists to become involved in a co-operative way in the selling of their produce?
Comment on this
We have confined our grants at the moment with regard to groups. Of course, we have the ordinary grants under the farm modernisation schemes. We have extended grants very much into the glasshouse industry and already a number of big operators have availed of this grant, that is for the conversion from oil to solid fuel. We have already made £66,000 available to this co-operative.