To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will introduce a grant for farmers for separating clean from dirty water similar to the grant already available for pollution control measures.

The European Community regulations on farm capital grants set a maximum rate of 35 per cent. for grants on pollution control equipment. Because we target our aid on the main items and do not cover ancillary equipment, such as clean water separation, we have persuaded the Commission to allow us to pay grant at the exceptionally high rate of 50 per cent. If we were to widen the scope of these grants we would have to match this by offsetting cuts in the grant rate.