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Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 23 Nov 1938

Vol. 73 No. 6

Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Price of Flour.

asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce whether he is aware that household flour delivered in Ballaghaderreen costs 41/- per sack, and that the same flour, if imported from Northern Ireland or Great Britain could be had for 22/- per sack; and whether he will cause inquiry to be made into this discrepancy in prices.

I would refer the Deputy to my reply to a question addressed to me on the 16th instant by Deputy Norton. The current price for household flour ex mill Ireland is 39/- per sack of 280 lbs. Flour produced in Great Britain or Northern Ireland is not importable here save under licence, and any figures which the Deputy could produce in respect of such flour delivered at Ballaghaderreen or anywhere else in this country would be hypothetical. The Deputy is possibly unaware of the fact that if flour were imported into this country from Great Britain or Northern Ireland it would probably, under existing wheat quota and subsidy arrangements in Great Britain, be sold at a price 6/- per sack lower than it would be sold in the country of origin.

Is the Minister aware that, but for the regulations made by himself and his colleague, the Minister for Agriculture, the price of shop flour to-day in Ireland would be 20/6 per sack, ex mill, while the actual price is 38/6 ex mill, which means that the average housewife buying a cwt. of flour is charged to-day 18/- per cwt., whereas if the regulations referred to were not in force, she could buy the same cwt. of flour for 9/-. She is at present paying a tax of 100 per cent. on every cwt. of flour she buys in this country. Is the Minister aware of it?

Well, those are the facts.

They are the facts, beyond all doubt or question, checked and confirmed by me no later than yesterday when I was buying flour. Is it the intention of the Minister to allow that outrageous state of affairs to continue?

That state of affairs does not exist.

That state of affairs does exist.

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