This is the operative section, containing a provision whereby we are going to undo much of what has been done over a number of years. It was thought fit, in order that we should gain our place in the external market, that eggs should be stamped and graded. Much work has been put into that line of activity. I would ask now whether the proposal before us means we are to deviate from all that we have done and whether it will be possible for the Department to define who is to be the particular exporter. There is an important question and one that the Minister has not answered to my satisfaction — what is to be the qualification of the exporter, who is to get these particular licences to export eggs without having them stamped or in boxes which may not show the date of their export?
The Minister might sit back and take this as a Bill that is going to pass through very freely. This is one of the most important Bills that ever came before us. We have had an export trade in eggs over a number of years. We have seen that trade dwindle to what it is to-day. We see the Minister trying to find continental markets, despite all he said in the past "about drowning the British people with eggs", when he made the statement that the British market was the only one open to us. Now he has opened up a new avenue in this Bill. I would like an assurance from him that he or his Department will not be put in a position to open up something that this House would not like to have opened up.
We have a number of registered exporters. How is the Minister to decide how many of these will get the licences? What is the procedure to be adopted? What is the term of months or years that must elapse, to distinguish the regular exporter from the exporter who might be prepared to export just a consignment of eggs, say, to West Germany. He must apply to the Department under this Bill. He must be freed from all the obligations that exist. How long will it take the Department to decide whether he is a fit and proper person?
This Bill is not as simple as the Minister would like to suggest. It means taking out of Parliament a decision and giving it into the Minister's hands — the decision as to which exporters will get these licences and what the qualifications are. We have not heard that. The Parliamentary Secretary — acting for the Minister in the Dáil — suggested that there has been a request from continental people that no longer should there be on the face of the exported eggs the date on which they were exported. If we accept that, it would be a very bad thing. We would all like to open up new markets but we would also like to remove every obstacle and everything that would stand in the way of our exploiting these markets. If there is one thing, to my mind, that would lend itself to sabotaging our prospects, it would be the removal of the date of export of this commodity. I do not see why we should object to having the date on a case of eggs. I think we should make it clear on every case of eggs we export to the Continent what is the date of export. If we want to retain a market, we must be prepared to export our Irish produce under our name and under the date on which it was exported.
