asked the Minister for Agriculture if he will state (a) whether he is satisfied that the price paid for malting barley for some years past by the breweries of Ireland is a fair and equitable one to barley growers, and (b) what price he intends to allow to the growers this year.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Price of Malting Barley.
In regard to (a) no; in regard to (b) the price of 45/- was fixed before I became responsible for the Department of Agriculture and was notified to farmers before this year's crop was planted.
Is there any possibility that the farmers will be recouped the losses they sustained by reason of the controlled price fixed by the Fianna Fáil Government, as a result of which a big profit was made by the British Treasury?
In regard to the first part of the Deputy's supplementary question, I regret to say that I apprehend there is no means of meeting that equitable demand. In regard to the second part, I understand that the British Government benefited to the tune of £2,000,000 at the expense of the barley growers of this country during the past six years.
Will the Minister explain that? Is it a fact that no beer was exported during the past few years which was not brewed from barley supplied by the British Government?
I believe that the £1 per barrel, of which our Government deprived our farmers, went into the excess profits of Messrs. Arthur Guinness, Son and Company, a company registered in London, and that, as a result of the 100 per cent. excess profits tax levied by the British Government, the whole excess profits derived from that penal tax of £1 per barrel was syphoned off Guinness's accounts into the British Treasury.
Is the Minister aware that he is talking through his hat, as usual? I never heard such nonsense.
I assert it as a fact and will prove it in any arena.