This vote is required for the purpose of enabling my Department to put into operation certain proposals in regard to the future development and better organisation of the kelp industry on the Western sea coast. I have already referred to the matter in this House. It is also intended to carry out on a substantial scale certain experimental operations in Connemara on the treatment and marketing of carrigeen moss which, if they are successful will, I anticipate, promote better conditions and considerable development in this particular industry also. These two industries are mentioned in paragraph 160 of the Gaeltacht Commission Report. The conditions in the kelp industry for a number of years have not been satisfactory. There is a belief amongst the kelp makers that they are not being fairly treated by the buyers. This belief, whether justified or not, has resulted in a considerable amount of adulteration taking place and this adulteration has reacted both against the buyers and the makers.
As a result also of this belief, the making of kelp has in many places been abandoned and in many other places considerably reduced. It is quite easy to understand that, because the making of kelp is a very laborious task. Roughly speaking, it is necessary to gather 4½ tons of the seaweed, save that and burn it in order to produce a ton of kelp. Furthermore, in some instances the kelp has to be carted fifteen or sixteen miles to the market or place of sale. Naturally, people along the western coast are not going to engage in so laborious an undertaking if the market is precarious either in demand or in price. If, however, there exists an assured market at a fair price, the industry could be established on a much wider basis with great advantage to a very large number of families, who would be very glad of this means of supplementing the family budget. The seaweed which is the basis of this industry can be fairly looked on as one of the natural resources of the west coast and therefore should be exploited as far as possible.
The Minister for Industry and Commerce has, for some time past, been co-operating with me in the achievement of this purpose, and I am glad to be able to say now that a satisfactory market has been obtained for all the kelp that we can produce. It gives me the greatest pleasure to make this announcement because it was rendered possible almost solely by the interest and intervention of a Deputy of this House whose reputation is a sufficient guarantee of his ability to carry through successfully any commercial enterprise to which he may set his hand. His sympathy for the people of the Gaeltacht is very well recognised by all who know him. I am confident that this announcement will be an equal source of gratification to Deputies of all Parties in this House. The possession of an assured and satisfactory market enables my Department to proceed with the measures which we had in mind for the improvement generally of the industry with some greater degree of confidence. The marketing of the kelp is very important. After the market a very important consideration is that the kelp maker should be enabled to have some knowledge of the value of his commodity. In the past it was only the buyers who had that knowledge, and no matter how straightforwardly such a transaction might be carried out, the person dealing in the dark had always some doubts.
I propose that in future each kelp maker shall be furnished with a docket showing the iodine content of the kelp, the percentage of iodine being the principal index to the value of the kelp. The analysis for this purpose will be made at the time of delivery of the kelp to the Department's agent. The method has been devised with the assistance of the State chemists, and it is known as the colorimetric test. A sample of the kelp is taken by a method which will ensure that it is a representative sample, and carbon bisulphide and nitrosulphuric acid are added in predetermined proportions. The result is to liberate the iodine, the quantity of which is measured by the degree of intensity of the colour of the resultant liquid when compared with ascertained standards. This method does not possess the degree of accuracy of a laboratory analysis, but it will provide a good working test for the information of the kelp maker. It will have the advantage of being made on the spot and in the presence of the owner, if he so desires. Ordinarily the test will be made by the Department's agent, but for this year we propose that the agent shall have the help of a chemist in the working of the test, such chemist to be nominated by the State Chemist. Neither the agent nor anybody else will have any personal interest in obtaining anything but an absolutely fair test. If, however, any kelp maker should be dissatisfied with that test he can, for a small fee, have a laboratory analysis of his kelp made by the State Chemist.
I hope that this measure, which will ensure a fair deal all round, will greatly assist in putting an end to adulteration of kelp. Adulteration will be a crime, not against the Government or the buyers, but against the general body of kelp makers. We propose to deal very severely with any person detected of adulteration. We are certain from the plans we have laid that it will be almost impossible to escape detection. We propose, if anybody is detected of adulteration, to exclude him permanently from the industry. The analysis to which I have just referred will be for the purpose of determining the quality of the various lots of kelp as between the kelp makers. The kelp will be sold on the basis of a laboratory test of a bulk sample made in the State Laboratory or under the direction of the State Chemist.
The arrangements for the sale and the price will be arranged by the Department, acting as agent for the kelp makers. This arrangement will enable the transaction to be carried through on terms of greater equality, so far as the kelp maker is concerned, and this advantage will be felt to a greater extent in those more remote places where there is less existing organisation. This Estimate is for the purpose of enabling payments on account to be made immediately on the delivery of the kelp—that is, when the kelp is delivered and before it is sold by the Department. That will enable an advance on the final settlement to be made to the kelp-maker, and I anticipate that in the great majority of cases these payments on account will be larger than the former total payments which they got for their kelp. That is the broad outline of my proposals. There are other improvements of detail.
In establishing the centres at which the kelp is to be received regard has been had to the convenience of the kelp-makers. I am anxious, as far as practicable, to avoid the carting of kelp long distances if more adjacent points of shipment can be availed of. Assistance has been given at several points in effecting certain improvements in the gathering and curing of the weed. At Quilty, for instance, assistance has been given in cutting a passage through a reef of rocks in order to avoid a long journey to the saving grounds. At Pullaheeney certain land near the shore is being drained. These expenses are being met out of other Votes. Research has been carried out as to the value of certain weeds for kelp-making and as to the best methods of burning, and these experiments will be continued. The results of these experiments go to show that the most satisfactory method of burning is to reduce the weed to ash, either on the level ground or in a raised kiln. It is the simplest and easiest plan. There is in some quarters a belief that the kelp weighs less in ash than when made into slag. There is no justification for that belief. The weight is about the same, and the kelp as ash is more acceptable to the majority of buyers and therefore commands a better price. I am anxious to encourage, therefore, the method of reduction to ash rather than slag, but at the same time we are not making it in any sense compulsory that that should be done. Where they desire to reduce to slag, we will allow it, but we believe that in a short time they will find that it pays them better to adopt the other method.
I also propose to have certain experiments carried out this year to see whether the cutting of the weed from boats at certain states of the tide during the summer-time would have better results than gathering the weed as it is washed in. In any event it may help to add to the amount produced. I know that in other countries that method is adopted. The portion of this Estimate relating to the kelp is £40,000. The remaining £4,250 is required for the purposes of the experimental work relating to carrigeen moss. The total output of carrigeen moss in the past has not greatly exceeded 100 tons, and we believe that under favourable conditions some 700 tons could be gathered on the west coast alone. If better prices were obtainable, I have no doubt that this quantity could be got. We are hoping to improve the prices by improving the condition and cure of the carrigeen and the method of marketing. Analysis shows that in quality the Irish carrigeen is superior to that obtained on the Continent, but that it is not so well cured and graded.
This year it is proposed that the carrigeen in Connemara should be brought to one centre, at which the curing will be carried out in the manner in use in the United States of America. A Deputy, not the Deputy to whom I have already referred, has put at the disposal of the Department a spread ground for the purposes of curing. I would also like to say that the agents who are helping us in this experiment are doing so at a very nominal fee. An advance of ? per stone will be paid to the carrigeen gatherers. The normal price which they got in the past was roughly 1/- a stone, so that the advance that will be got this year will be 50 per cent. greater than the total payment in the past. When the carrigeen has been cured and dealt with in the manner proposed and sold, any further profit will be distributed to the gatherers. The best selected carrigeen is sold in the United States of America as a food and for medicinal purposes. That of a lower grade is used for industrial purposes in the making of paints, pastes, chemicals and similar goods. I propose to see whether the carrigeen properly cured and graded can be marketed similarly. If in this way improved prices could be obtained the industry, which can be engaged in by all members of a family, might be elevated to a position of considerable importance in the economics of the Gaeltacht.