asked the Minister for Supplies if he is aware that milk brought into Dublin by the large wholesalers, for which the producer is paid 9½d. per gallon, is sold retail at 2½d. per pint (or 1/8 per gallon), or in bottles at 2/4 per gallon; and whether he will state further if he will take steps to eliminate the wasteful methods of distribution which involve this wide margin of difference between the producers' price and the retail price.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Milk Distribution in Dublin.
The price of 9½d. per gallon referred to by the Deputy is the price payable to producers residing outside a 40-mile radius of Dublin, where delivery is taken by the whole-, saler either at the premises of the producer or at the nearest agreed collecting station.
The prices paid by wholesalers and retailers respectively for milk delivered in Dublin during the months May to July, inclusive, are 11½d. and 1/1 per gallon. These prices form a fairer basis of comparison than the 9½d. referred to by the Deputy.
The price of loose milk to consumers is 2½d. per pint when the purchaser takes delivery at the premises of the vendor. The maximum price fixed for bottled milk when delivered to the purchaser otherwise than at the premises of the vendor is 3¼d. per pint (2/2 per gallon).
I am not satisfied that the margin allowed to wholesale and retail vendors of milk in the Dublin area is excessive.
Is the Minister aware that the consumption of milk in Dublin is as low as a half pint per person, and does he realise that the drink more milk campaign would be helped by the provision of milk at cheaper rates?
That appears to me to be an entirely separate question.
Will the Minister consider the desirability of eliminating wasteful methods of distribution by making the Dublin District Milk Board the sole distributors of milk in the Dublin area?
I doubt very much if any substantial difference in the retail price of milk would result from the elimination of what the Deputy describes as "wasteful methods of distribution." It is true that, by altering the system of distribution, we could put a large number of people out of employment, but I doubt if the result, in the price of milk, would be commensurate with the disemployment that would be caused. So far as the margin between the wholesale and retail price at present fixed is concerned, the vendors in the city have been agitating continuously in support of their contention that it is entirely inadequate to cover their expenses.
Will the Minister say on what ground the difference between the price paid to the producer for his milk and the price paid for it by consumers is justified? Can he give the House details which can justify it, or say what is the justification?
The justification is that one must allow reasonable expenses to the distributors of milk. These expenses have been calculated and an allowance has to be made for them.
That is a mere general statement.
The Deputy did not ask that question. If he had intended asking it he should have put it down.
Will the Minister say if he has ever investigated why the cost of the distribution of milk in the City of Dublin was increased, and why the distribution of milk in the City of Dublin was concentrated in the hands of the big distributors?
I am not aware that it was concentrated in the hands of the big distributors.
Is the Minister aware that a large quantity of milk sent into the City of Cork, because it cannot be sold at 1/8 per gallon, is sold to the college at 7d. per gallon?
That is a separate question.