asked the Minister for Agriculture if he is aware of the great loss and inconvenience caused to pig producers in South Donegal by having to market their pigs in Ballybofey, the nearest advertised centre; and that having conveyed their pigs to Ballybofey over 50 miles and paid freight on them a further freight charge to their destination was deducted by the Pigs and Bacon Commission; and in view of this if he will take up with the said commission the question of having a market established in South Donegal to serve the pig producers in that area.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Donegal Pig Market.
Pigs are being collected at Ballybofey and three other centres in County Donegal and all pigs are forwarded to bacon factories. If such pigs were purchased by pig dealers or by bacon curers freight would be paid by the producer either in the form of a specific freight charge or in that of a reduced price. There does not seem to be any reason why the commission should not follow this practice. With the opening of a new bacon factory at Letterkenny it is hoped that the two bacon factories in the county will absorb all the pigs that are available and that purchase by the commission may very shortly be unnecessary.
Does the Minister advert to the fact that the trouble in South Donegal is that pig producers in the Glencolumbcille area, and all down that western division of Donegal, have to carry their pigs all the way into Ballybofey—a long journey of 40 or 50 miles —and not infrequently they are sent back along the very road on which they were brought; whereas, if there were a purchasing centre in Donegal town, that would cater for the whole wide western area. In certain weeks the Pigs and Bacon Commission might deem it desirable to forward pigs to Letterkenny or Sligo but, even so, it would involve no double cartage on them. I suggest to the Minister that, if he approaches the Pigs and Bacon Commission to set up such a centre, it will not give rise to any serious difficulty.
I had in mind when discussing the matter with the commission, that pigs might conceivably be brought a long distance to Ballybofey and back again to Sligo, but now that the second factory has started, I think there will be no difficulty, as the capacity of the two factories will be more than sufficient to absorb all the pigs available.
Will the Minister go so far as to say that, if in the new year, this difficulty presents itself, he will ask the commission to consider opening a centre?
Yes.