asked the Minister for Agriculture if he will say why, in view of the balance of payments situation, the Government allowed approximately £80,000 worth of industrial barley to be imported from Poland and other countries at over £5 per barrel, while home barley growers experience difficulty in disposing of Irish-grown barley at a much lower price.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Barley Imports.
Mr. Walsh
As the industrial users of barley did not obtain their full requirements from the 1951 crop, the importation of a limited quantity of malt and malting barley has been permitted to enable them to maintain production until the 1952 barley crop becomes available. So far as I am aware, growers of malting barley had no difficulty in disposing of last year's crop.
Surely the Minister is aware that very great difficulty was experienced by barley growers this year in disposing of their crops and that in many cases barley was sold as low as 50/- per barrel and a number of brewers and distillers refused to take supplies offered to them even at 70/- a barrel?
Mr. Walsh
The Deputy will recollect that Messers. Guinness paid the sum of four guineas per barrel and they were unable to get a sufficient supply last year. They had to make application to the Department for permission to import barley. If there are people who did not pay the price, they have not come to us for any permission to import barley and it has not been given to them.
Is the Minister aware that Messers. Guinness's agent refused to take the barley when it was offered?
Mr. Walsh
Last year? I am not aware of it.
Is it true that the barley imported, to which the Minister now refers, cost slightly over £5 per barrel and if that is true why have Messrs. Guinness been requested by the Government to pay no more than 75/- for Irish barley?
Mr. Walsh
The Deputy has made a statement that Messrs. Guinness have been requested by the Government not to pay more than 75/-. That is untrue.
If Messrs. Guinness are paying £5 2s. for barley imported from abroad on the ground that they cannot get barley to meet their requirements in Ireland, why is it that they have elected to reduce the price of barley from 84/- to 75/-, that they have elected to depart from the contract which did obtain under which they would have paid approximately £5 for Irish barley this year? Why is there a fixed price of 75/- when they cannot get from the growers here a sufficient quantity to meet their requirements and are prepared to pay £5 2s. for barley imported from abroad?
Mr. Walsh
The question of price was dealt with between the Beet Growers' Association and Messrs. Guinness. The association, as representatives of the barley growers, fixed that price — and Deputy Lehane is a member of that association.
I am not. If the Beet Growers' Association made any such idiotic arrangement, is it not time that the Minister for Agriculture — who, after all, is head boy in regard to agricultural matters, whatever Government he may belong to — rolled up his sleeves and made sure that if foreign growers were getting £5 for barley the same price would be paid to domestic growers? That is all I want. Does anyone think that is wrong? Is it not the Minister's job to do that?
The Minister has referred to me as being a member of the Beet Growers' Association. I am, and I am glad to be a member; but I am not a member of the negotiating committee that negotiated this agreement with Messrs. Guinness and I do not agree with that decision.
Deputy Corry is a member.
I think that if the negotiating committee felt that a pistol was being held to their head and that they were being told: "If you do not take the 75/- offered this year, we will have our own back on you next year," that puts a different complexion on it.
Mr. Walsh
Deputy Dillon has already made a reference to the importation of barley this year. It was only after Messrs. Guinness's discovery that they would not have sufficient to carry over until next year that they asked for permission to import. Deputy Dillon did not make any inquiries when he was importing 16,000 tons of oats last year.
If they are paying £5 to the foreign grower, why cannot they pay £5 to the domestic grower?