§ Mr. AingerTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what investigations he has made into extending grant aid to roofing enclosed stock areas to reduce the required capacity for slurry storage.
§ Mr. CurryThe coverage of the grant scheme was carefully considered when it was introduced three years ago. It was decided to offer a high rate of grant focused on the core facilities which most farmers would need. In this way we are able to offer a 50 per cent. grant when the EC norm for this type of grant is 35 per cent. It was precisely because we did not grant aid roofing that we were able to persuade the EC Commission to accept our exceptionally high rate of grant. I have received no indications from the industry that it would be prepared to accept a lower rate of grant in order to allow the scheme to be extended.