asked the Minister for Supplies whether he is aware that substantial quantities of flour and wholemeal have been fed to live stock during the last three months, and whether he will strictly ration flour hereafter to consumers, thus enabling the supply of 85 per cent. extraction flour and limited supplies of bran and pollard.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Rationing of Flour.
Some complaints have been received in my Department alleging the feeding of flour to live stock in certain areas. Such a practice would be illegal, and all such complaints are investigated by the Gárdaí, but it has not been found possible to secure any evidence that the practice prevails in these areas. The adoption of an 85 per cent. extraction of flour, as suggested by the Deputy, would, on the basis of the estimated supplies of wheat available, mean a reduction in normal deliveries of flour of 17 per cent., together with a substantial increase in the price of flour. I do not consider it would be advisable in existing circumstances to alter the present basis as, apart from the cost of administration involved in the adoption of any scheme of flour rationing, and the impossibility of devising a really equitable scheme, it would impose too great a hardship on certain classes of consumers.
Does the Minister not realise that the present acute scarcity of flour in this country is due, at least in part, to the feeding of wholemeal and flour to pigs and cattle? In face of that fact, does he propose to do anything to prevent the continuance of that practice? If he does propose to do something, what else can he do except ensure that if a man feeds flour to his cattle it will be his own family's food he feeds to them, and not that of his neighbour's? Is the Minister aware that what is happening at present is that a man who has ready cash goes round from shop to shop and takes whatever flour he can get? Having provided his own family with bread he feeds the surplus to pigs and cattle, whereas the poor person who has to buy on credit very frequently finds that his supplier has no flour to give him, because he has already sold it to the cash customer to feed his pigs. If the Minister is not aware of these facts he is being badly served by his information service. I beg him to take steps at once to deal with this matter; otherwise we may soon be faced with a very serious crisis.
I am aware that it is probably correct that flour is being fed to animals. That is an offence against the law. We have not yet succeeded in prosecuting anybody for that offence because people will not give us evidence which would enable us to start a prosecution but in due course I hope that there will be a change in the public attitude on this question. I hope the public will realise that it is in their interests to furnish evidence of the commission of such an offence which will enable the offenders to be prosecuted. I do not think you are going to prevent such abuses by any system of rationing. At any rate, a system of rationing will not prevent hardship. I have discussed this matter before and I do not think it is a matter which we should discuss by means of question and answer. In my opinion, the importance of bread in the dietary of different classes of people varies so considerably that no successful scheme of rationing of bread could be devised. Any rationing scheme must of necessity involve distribution upon the basis of a flat-rate allowance, and that in the case of flour and bread would be unfair. There is of course always a larger consumption of flour at this season of the year than at other seasons. It happens in this year that it is a season in which the supply is most restricted. That situation will have remedied itself in a couple of weeks, and from that on until the end of the year I hope there will be no difficulty in maintaining throughout all parts of the country an adequate supply of flour to meet all needs.
Does the Minister realise that a substantial part of the problem, which at present takes the shape of poor people getting no flour at all, arises from the fact that better-off neighbours are feeding the flour of the poor to animals? Now, if public opinion has not stopped that abominable practice so far, although the people know that their poorer neighbours sometimes have to go without bread, surely the Minister must do something to ensure that the poor will get some flour? If he has any better scheme than rationing, I have no objection to it. But, pending the evolution of a better scheme to ensure that the poor will get some flour, will the Minister not place in the hands of everybody a rationing book or card which will entitle them to demand as of right from the retail distributor of flour whatever share of flour their ration entitles them to?
The Deputy thinks it would be a very simple matter to put a card system into operation. It took over 12 months in Great Britain.
I know the Minister made a fool of himself in not preparing a national register before. He is going to prepare it now. Will he take steps to ensure that the people will get flour? There is no use flapping his hands and saying that he is waiting for public opinion to do his work. That is his job.
Supplementary questions should be brief. Ten hours would not suffice for 90 questions were the Deputy's supplementaries to be the standard.
The Minister should have prepared a register 12 months ago.
It would be out of date now.
An old shoe is better than no shoe.