asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he will state (i) the acreage of fruit farms in County Dublin; (ii) the number of persons employed constantly; and (iii) the number of persons employed during the months of June, July and August on them.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Employment on Fruit Farms.
(i) Defining a fruit farm as (a) a holding exceeding one acre of which at least 50 per cent. is under fruit, or (b) a holding on which at least five acres are under fruit, the total area of such farms in County Dublin on 1st June, 1948, was 991 acres of which 310 acres were under fruit.
(ii) The number of males (including members of the holders' families) engaged on 1st June, 1948, permanently on the fruit farms dealt with in part (i) of the question was 62. This figure includes all males engaged on farm activities and not only on fruit cultivation. Particulars of the numbers of females employed on farms are not available.
(iii) The number of males engaged on 1st June, 1948, temporarily on such farms was ten. Particulars of such persons engaged specifically in June, July and August are not available.
I am not saying that the Minister did not get the figures he has given me in good faith, but that number are employed in one farm in County Dublin not to mind the whole lot.
I can assure the Deputy that in order to give him the fullest possible information, those figures were got only after a considerable amount of trouble and after a considerable number of civil servants being detached for that purpose, and I place much more reliance on the figures in my reply than on any figures he gives.
Does the Minister think that I raise a question in this House for fun? I asked the question in all good faith.
I accept the Deputy's word "fun".
You need not accept my word at all. That is a misrepresentation of facts.