18 Mr. O'Brien asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the total of the State's land mass which is involved in the appeals of the disadvantaged areas scheme.

The area under appeal is estimated at 1.2 million hectares which represents about 17 per cent of the total land area of the country.

19 Mr. Deenihan asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the reason there is five to six month delay in the payment of grants for pollution control, young farmer installation aid and other grants under the farm development scheme; and if his attention has been drawn to the hardship which this is causing to a large number of families.

74 Mr. G. Reynolds asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the reason for the delays in payment of installation aid grants to young farmers; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

112 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if he will outline the delay experienced by farmers in relation to the payment of farm grants; and the reason for the delays.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 19 and 74 and 112 together.

There is no undue delay in the payment of grants under the farm pollution control or young farmer installation aid schemes.

In the case of the farm improvement programme, however, by reason of the volume of claims and the limited funds available, there is some unavoidable delay in making payments. While every effort is being made to pay these grants as quickly as possible it will not be feasible to make all outstanding payments in the current year.