asked the Minister for Lands and Agriculture whether he is aware that in the "Report on Irish Agricultural Conditions at 1st May, 1924," issued by the Department of Agriculture, the deadweight price of pigs in the South of Ireland is given as 70s. to 75s., whilst in the northern counties of the Saorstát the price is given as 85s. to 90s. per cwt.; further, whether the reports of pig markets in northern Ireland give the average market price for the week ending 3rd May as 93s. 6d. per cwt.; whether he is also aware that owing to the low prices given by curers the majority of southern farmers are being compelled to give up breeding and feeding pigs, and whether he can explain the cause and what steps he proposes to take in order to remedy the existing discrepancy in prices, which is killing such an important industry in our country.
WRITTEN ANSWERS. - PRICE OF PIGS.
The relative figures quoted in the question are substantially correct, though in certain counties in the Free State the prices given by curers have ranged higher than those quoted. Various factors account for the present difference in prices in the northern counties and those of the Free State, the chief being the different competition which the respective products of the two areas have to meet. The whole matter is one to which I have for some time been giving special attention, and I hope to arrange at an early date for a conference of pig breeders and feeders and Southern curers to discuss the subject of the pig breeding industry.