Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 4 Dec 1935

Vol. 59 No. 12

Adjournment Debate. - Tipperary and Kilkenny Grain Crops.

Mr. Morrissey

Apparently Deputy Corry is not interested in this question. He is apparently one of the few who have been able to dispose of their barley. At question time to-day I asked the Minister for Agriculture if he was aware that there are over 20,000 barrels of barley of this year's crop left on the hands of the farmers of North Tipperary, and if he would state what steps, if any, he proposes to take to enable such farmers to dispose of this barley without further delay. Not being satisfied with the answer which the Minister gave, and which I considered a rather vague and indefinite one in view of the urgency of this matter, I gave notice that I would raise it to-night. The Minister, when I gave that notice, was inclined to be irritable. I do not know why. I gathered that his irritation seemed to flow from the fact that I had not raised this matter before now. So far as I can gather, that was what he meant. I did not want to raise it, because the Minister, in a statement issued three or four weeks ago, told us that he had made arrangements with the corn buyers in this country which would enable farmers to dispose of their grain crops almost immediately. We were waiting to see that particular scheme come to something; it has come to nothing. This is a serious matter and a very urgent one, and for that reason I think the Minister ought to be definite in telling us what he proposes to do, or whether he has been able to get a scheme to enable farmers to dispose of this barley almost immediately.

The matter is urgent for two reasons, the main one being that in the barley growing areas, as Deputies who come from those counties know, it is the main cash crop of the year, and the farmers have to depend very largely on it to meet their commitments. We know that many farmers who have been unable to dispose of their grain crop this year have been served with six days' notice at the same time by the Government. The real urgency in this matter, as farmer Deputies will realise, is due to the fact that there is no storage. Of course I know that many farmers in the country have been fortunate enough, if you like, not to have their barley threshed. I am speaking of barely for the moment because it is the main concern so far as my question to-day is concerned. Others have had their corn threshed for a considerable time, and many of them had to hire sacks. In some cases the sacks are given free, but in other cases they have had to be hired, and so long as they have to keep the corn in those sacks the hireage is increasing and amounting to a very substantial sum. I think the Minister has been informed that so far as North Tipperary is concerned—and I think it is a conservative estimate—there are over 20,000 barrels undisposed of. I know it is not an easy matter for the Minister to deal with. There has been an almost unprecedented yield of barley this year —probably the best in living memory— and there are certain areas, of course, we must also realise, where there is less consumption than in other years, and I am afraid it is going to be still less. I do not want to drag the matter out, and have only raised it for the purpose of giving the Minister an opportunity of informing those who are really anxious about the matter as to what hope there is of disposing of their barley at a reasonable price and as soon as possible.

Mr. Holohan

I too had a question on the Order Paper this morning which was taken with Deputy Morrissey's question. Both question were aimed at practically the same thing. I may say that it is very awkward indeed for the farmers in County Kilkenny to have their barley and oats on hands with no hope of disposing of it. They have made every attempt to make sale of this corn. In fact it was offered at a very low price. I saw in the papers some time ago that the Minister said he had arranged that the surplus corn would be taken from the farmers at 14/- a barrel for barley bushelling 52 lbs. and 9/4 a barrel for oats bushelling 40 lbs. Since that time it seems that nothing has been done. This corn is stored in houses which are required for the housing of animals for the winter months, and consequently a very awkward position is created. A good many of those farmers wish to dispose of this grain in order to make some money with which to meet their liabilities. If the Minister's policy is a tillage policy, I think it is his duty to try to secure a market for the surplus corn which is on the farmers' hands at the present time. If the farmers cannot sell their produce they will not be encouraged to till more of their land. The Minister, to my mind, should make an attempt to do something in the near future. In his statement this morning I think he mentioned that some steps would be taken in the near future, but I think when he was asked a question in regard to what he meant by the near future it did not transpire that anything would be done immediately. At any rate the position is a bad one, and I would ask the Minister to move in the matter as soon as possible, so as to give those farmers an opportunity of disposing of their corn. A good many farmers have corn in stacks; many of them have no storage for it, and the Minister should know that as well as I do. The corn will not be improved by the conditions under which some of it is stored. The matter is a very important one, and I think the Minister should attend to it as soon as possible.

Mr. Gibbons

In view of the questions which appeared on the Order Paper to-day over the names of Deputies Morrissey and Holohan, I was rather interested to hear—and I presume the Minister will state— whether representations have been made by those Deputies, either to the Minister himself or to the Department, in regard to this surplus corn which is on the farmers' hands in both constituencies. I myself know that Deputy Morrissey is quite wrong in his statement that the Minister for Agriculture has apparently done nothing. He has done something, and been very active for many weeks in connection with this matter. We saw the Government's scheme in respect of barley prices announced many weeks ago. We also know that that scheme has been taken up and worked, I may say enthusiastically, by some of the grain merchants throughout the country, notably in Kilkenny City.

Mr. Morrissey

By some of them.

Mr. Gibbons

We are all very anxious about this matter. I have been in close touch with the Minister and know of the negotiations which have taken place. The Minister said this morning that steps were being taken. The impression created in my mind by this statement—I had not had the advantage of seeing it in any paper, or circulated officially—was that arrangements had been made and negotiations and consultations had taken place which would have the effect of clearing off in the near future the barley which was still unsold on the farmers' hands in the barley constituencies. Deputy Morrissey, of course, is interested in Tipperary, which is one of the greatest barley growing districts in the Saorstát. My own constituency of Kilkenny, which is also Deputy Holohan's constituency, is also recognised as one of the barley growing areas. The position is considerably improved in County Kilkenny owing to the action which the Minister and his Department have taken over several weeks past. The glut has been cleared, and buying is proceeding steadily. I feel that, as a result of conferences which have taken place this week, and judging by the tenor of the Minister's reply to the questions which were on the Order Paper to-day, the position will be very much improved, and that all the unsold barley at present in County Kilkenny, which is the county for which I can speak, will be disposed of. Buying as I said has been proceeding uninterruptedly up to the present and will continue in the weeks to come. When the position has been improved through the action of the Minister, it is rather unfair to make the statement or to give the impression that the Minister has been doing nothing. The Minister has been very active and alert in this matter, as I personally can testify as far as my constituency is concerned. I know he will emphasise these points and make the position very clear when he is replying.

Mr. Holohan

May I ask the Deputy if this buying is taking place what price is being paid for barley and oats?

An Ceann Comhairle

The Kilkenny Deputies will have to settle that question elsewhere.

Mr. Gibbons

I shall tell the Deputy. The price stipulated by the Department is being paid at present.

Mr. Holohan

Are they taking all the crop?

Mr. Gibbons

They are buying, at any rate.

Dr. Ryan

Deputy Morrissey said that I appeared annoyed when he announced that he was going to raise this question on the adjournment. I did appear annoyed because I could not have given a more satisfactory answer to any question than the answer which I gave to the Deputy's question. No answer given to any question on the Order Paper to-day could have been more satisfactory. I said that the situation would be cleared up almost immediately. The reason I was annoyed is that it was quite obvious that the Deputy could have raised this matter on the adjournment three weeks ago with just as much justification. Surely the answer I gave him to-day was satisfactory.

Mr. Morrissey

It was very indefinite.

Dr. Ryan

If the Deputy were listening to the broadcasting station to-night he would have heard my solution. He would have heard what I propose as a solution. Of course I do not know whether it is going to solve the problem or not.

Mr. Morrissey

I would have preferred to have heard it from the Minister.

Dr. Ryan

I think that the Deputy is merely wasting time in bringing forward the question at this stage. I agree with the Deputy that this matter is serious and urgent. It has been serious and urgent for some weeks past, and as Deputy Gibbons has stated, the Deputies from County Tipperary—Deputies Ryan and Fogarty— have been with me several times in connection with it. Deputy Gibbons also has been with me several times. They have not only been with me but they have helped considerably in trying to get a solution of the problem. They have gone to buyers and have got them to buy more corn. Further, they have helped these buyers to procure bigger stores. That is the trouble some of the buyers have experienced. I think Deputies such as Deputies Ryan, Fogarty and Gibbons were much better employed in helping to solve the problem in that way and giving me all the assistance they could than coming here asking me questions and saying that my answer was unsatisfactory.

Over three weeks ago, it would be four or five weeks ago as a matter of fact, a scheme was put up to the buyers that we would guarantee them against loss, if they paid up to a certain figure—7/- per cwt. in the case of barley and 5/2 per cwt. in the case of oats. We guaranteed that they would get 10d. per cwt., in addition, on the 30th June next, if they had not sold the grain at that time. A number of buyers purchased corn on that proposal but they were deceived as to the amount of corn in the country just as much as we ourselves were. Their stores were quickly filled and some of the very big buyers came along to me about ten days ago and said that they had no further storage. They said there was more corn to be bought but they could not buy the corn unless they could kiln-dry it or get additional storage. In either event the purchase of the corn would be more expensive than they anticipated. If they were to kiln-dry it or to hire additional storage it would be more expensive, and they asked if we could give them a little more to cover that additional expense. These negotiations occupied some time, four or five days, and as a result we came to terms and they agreed to go out and buy. They believed that they would clear all the corn in all the areas where there is corn still on hands. It was believed by these men that the North Tipperary area was the worst from that point of view. There is more corn on the farmers' hands there than in any other area in the country at present. A number of the buyers agreed to go to that area and to take all they possibly could to relieve the situation there. The real difficulty was the physical impossibility of storing the corn. Their own stores were full and they could not buy any more. That was the difficulty.

If the Deputy were not here raising the matter on the adjournment he might, as I have said, be listening to the wireless broadcast in which it is being announced that from next Monday the maize-meal mixture will contain 50 per cent. of home-grown grain. That is to try to get more of the corn cleared out of the merchants' stores to the maize millers, so as to give the buyers room to store further corn that they will buy. In the second place, as a result of negotiations my Department have had with the merchants, we believe that the corn at present on the hands of the farmers will be taken from them immediately or in the very near future, as soon as the buyers can hire stores or kiln-dry or get rid of what they have. I believe the farmers would be quite safe in holding out for ten days or a week, when I expect this buying will commence. This difficulty shows one thing at any rate. It has shown us that we had not the amount of storage in the country that we considered was there. The harvest has overtaxed the amount of storage we had in the country.

Wheat took up a lot of storage room, and then the remainder of the storage was not sufficient for the barley crop, the yield of which was much heavier than in previous years although the acreage was not increased. The oats crop did not take up very much room. This question certainly has brought the problem of storage very prominently before the Department of Agriculture and myself. I think that before we face another harvest we shall have to introduce further legislation to provide storage in some way, whether it is to be provided by the State, by the buyers or the millers. We must have some proposals brought before the Dáil to provide additional storage in some way. As regards the immediate problem, it is being announced to-night that the 50 per cent. admixture scheme will come into operation immediately. All merchants buying are getting that additional guarantee. Some of them are in a position at any rate to go out tomorrow, or perhaps some might be out to-day. Others will be in a position in a day or two to commence buying again. I hope, and I think I might say I believe, that by these measures the surplus will be cleared off.

Mr. Holohan

At what price?

Dr. Ryan

As far as the farmer is concerned the price is 7/- per cwt. for barley and 5/2 per cwt. for oats.

The Dáil adjourned at 10.50 p.m. until Thursday, 5th December, at 3 p.m.