asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food, in view of his decision to abolish the county committees of agriculture, if he will directly grant-aid from his Department provincial shows previously grant-aided by the said committees.

There are no funds available to my Department for this purpose.

I must say that was a very curt reply. Does the Minister not accept that the shows have a role to play in this country? Is he aware that many of them have great difficulty in surviving and that they were very dependent on the grants they obtained from the county committees of agriculture? Does the Minister not think that he should have a look at the shows to see to what extent he could grant aid them in order to ensure their survival in the future?

I want to assure the Deputy that my brief answer does not mean I have no appreciation of the role of agricultural shows. Of course I do but in the scheme of things where we have to control public expenditure and have regard to the order of priorities, I have to acknowledge that the subventions to shows did not emerge as being more important than other areas. That is the reality as of now and I do not want to hold up any other view. However, having said that I would encourage all of the show committees to continue to do the magnificent job they are doing. I think farmers and the community as a whole can make a contribution to these shows. They have a reasonable amount of money which they can contribute and I hope they will contribute.

Now that the Minister has acknowledged the importance of the shows can I ask him if he would in the future look at the possibility of grant aiding them?

One must never say "never".