asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce whether he will state (1) the quantity of unsubsidised flour sold during the last financial year, (2) the economic price, (3) the price charged, and (4) the profit to the Exchequer on this flour.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Unsubsidised Flour.
The total quantity of unsubsidised flour (including wheatenmeal) sold during the last financial year amounted to 343,097 sacks. This quantity included flours of various rates of extraction produced from different grists. Consequently, the economic price was not uniform. The bulk of the flour was flour of 75 per cent. extraction, for which the economic price was, on the average, 117/11 per sack and the selling price was 130/- per sack.
The total profit to the Exchequer on sales of these flours amounted to £207,445 during the year.
If the persons who purchased these flours had been supplied instead with subsidised flour of 85 per cent. extraction, the Exchequer would have had to bear a loss of £1,059,312 instead of receiving a contribution of £207,445 towards the subsidy.