asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he will have sufficient credit made available to Irish Tanners, Limited, to enable them to purchase all the surplus hides now available from the hide merchants.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Purchase and Price of Hides.
Arrangements for the purchase of the hides in question have already been agreed with the Tanners' Federation, and the question of making credit available to an individual tanner for this purpose does not, therefore, arise.
Will the Minister have credit made available to the tanners which would enable them to pay for Irish hides a price commensurate with that which they are paying for Argentine hides and not 1/- a lb. for Irish hides and from 2/6 to 3/- for Argentine?
That is a separate question.
asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he will take steps to arrange that Irish farmers will get the market price of hides instead of having their prices restricted as at present.
The question of the prices and distribution of hides is constantly under review. In considering the matter of reasonable maximum prices for hides, it is necessary to have regard to the effect on the cost of goods manufactured from leather. In any event, hide prices do not affect the prices obtained by farmers for cattle.
What?
That is right.
Is the Minister aware that it means at present a levy of approximately £3 10s. per beast on every beast slaughtered for consumption in this country or for export to the United States of America in the form of carcase meat as a subsidy to the tanner by the differential in the price paid for hides flayed off Irish cattle and the price paid by the tanners for hides flayed off Argentine cattle?
The price of cattle is controlled by the export price, not by the price of the hides.