asked the Minister for Agriculture if he will state whether it is intended to grant licences to citizens to export turkeys as gifts to Great Britain during the Christmas period; and, if so, on what conditions.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Export of Gift Turkeys.
It is my intention to grant permits to residents in this country to send gifts of turkeys, during the coming Christmas season, to their immediate relatives in Great Britain. This concession will be confined strictly to immediate relatives, that is to say, the person in Great Britain to whom a gift turkey is sent must be the father, mother, husband, wife, son, daughter, brother or sister of the sender.
Full particulars of the way in which application should be made for these permits will be announced in the course of a few days. Meanwhile, I would be grateful if intending applicants would refrain from writing to my Department in this matter, as I cannot reply to individual inquiries pending the publication of the notice in the Press.
I hope that no attempt will be made by anyone to obtain a permit under false pretences by misrepresentation of the relationship of the applicant to the proposed recipient of a gift turkey. In such cases I shall feel bound to prosecute the guilty parties and the law provides heavy penalties for such an offence, because if abuses were allowed to develop and blackmarket racketeers succeeded in using this scheme for their indecent activities, genuine applicants would be deprived of their right to send turkeys to their relatives in Great Britain.