John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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Question 68: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food if her attention has been drawn to the difficulties for potato growers; and the improvements by way of grant assistance and so on she will make for this sector. [24633/06]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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My Department has provided substantial grants for both the ware potato and seed potato sectors in recent years. In 2005 grant aid amounting to €0.56m was paid to the industry of which €458,000 was paid to ware growers and €98,000 to the seed growers.

The funding available for the seed potato sector in 2006 is €1.5m. These funds are made available through the National Development Plan and are aimed at developing a modern seed potato industry. Applicants can apply for grant aid up to a maximum eligible investment of €400,000 for each phase of the scheme. To date 14 approvals for investment have been issued under phase 1 and a further 16 applications are being considered under phase 2 of the scheme.