asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether the conditions to be applied to payment of the new beef cow subsidy have now been finally decided; and what estimate he has made of the likely cost of this subsidy during the current financial year.

Not all the conditions of this new subsidy have yet been settled. We have been actively working on them in consultation with the Farmers' Unions and they will be announced as soon as possible. The estimated cost of this subsidy in the United Kingdom in the current financial year is £2·4 million.