asked the Minister for Supplies if he will state whether he has authorised Grain Importers (Éire), Limited, to purchase large quantities of barley and wheat from brewers, distillers and maltsters, and, if so, the quantity required and the price offered or proposed to be paid for same.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Purchase of Grain.
Grain Importers (Éire), Limited, are making arrangements, after consultation with my Department, to purchase all the barley they can obtain from any source. The price proposed to be paid is based on 30/- per barrel of 16 stones on the farm. In addition, brewers, distillers and maltsters who have incurred additional charges as, for instance, the cost of drying, will be recouped for such expenses.
Grain Importers (Éire), Limited, are prepared to purchase any wheat offered to them at a price to be negotiated with the vendor. These arrangements relate to cereals of the 1940 crop, and they have been made as a precautionary measure in view of the possibility of a shortage of wheat before next harvest.
Is the Minister satisfied that all the barley which it is proposed to purchase at 30/- per barrel has been paid for at that rate to the farmers?
No.
Is he aware that some of the barley was purchased at 17/6 and £1 per barrel, and is it now proposed to pay 35/6 per barrel to the maltsters, distillers and brewers for it?
The answer to all parts of the Deputy's question is in the negative. I am not concerned with the position, other than to secure that whatever barley is available and can be procured as a reserve against a wheat shortage will, in fact, be procured.
At what price?
At the price stated in the answer to the Deputy's question.
Might I inquire if, in connection with this acquisition of barley, the Minister would consult the Minister for Agriculture with a view to determining whether it might not be expedient to collect all the available animal foodstuffs in the hands of one body and there mix them into a suitable standard ration for stock, so as to avoid the present situation in which there are wide variations in the constitution of feeding stuffs at present being offered?
That is a matter entirely for the Minister for Agriculture.
And is obviously a separate question.
It is a matter of supply, arising out of the barley.
It has been considered.
It has? I hope it will be gone on with.