asked the Minister for Agriculture if it is his intention to fix a minimum price for oats of the 1955 crop, and, if so, if he will state the price and the method proposed to be employed to make such price-fixing effective.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - The 1955 Oats Crop.
The answer to the first part of the question is in the negative. The second part does not, therefore, arise.
asked the Minister for Agriculture if he will state by how much the present price of cotton seed meal has increased over the price operating 12 months ago.
I understand that the retail price of cotton seed meal is 8/- to 9/- a cwt. higher than it was at this time last year. The price of cotton seed meal is not officially controlled and must be related to the world market price.
Would the Minister agree that the price this time last year was somewhere in the region of 27/- and that it is 39/- per cwt. this year?
I think the price this time last year was 31/- per cwt. and this year 39/- per cwt., but I do not think anyone in Ireland is going to die of starvation for want of cotton seed meal——
They will not get any skin on their backs, either.
Neither will the Deputy nor myself ever grow thin on that account.
asked the Minister for Agriculture if he will state the amount of the increase in the price of grass seeds during the past 12 months.
I presume that the Deputy is referring to home-grown perennial ryegrass seed which is the main variety used in grass seed mixtures. I understand that the price paid to growers for perennial ryegrass seed ranged from 60/- to over 110/- per cwt., as against 46/- per cwt. last season for seed of 85 per cent. purity. The price of grass seed is not subject to official control, and it is not possible at this stage of the season to state to what extent the increased prices paid to growers will be reflected in the retail price of cleaned seed.
Does the Minister consider that this is an answer to my question?
Well, I thought it was most exhaustive.
It may be exhaustive, but I had a fear when putting down this question that that is the type of answer the Minister would try to put across——
I thought the Deputy would be apprehensive, because the price has gone up.
I want to know exactly how much more the farmer will have to pay for his grass seed this year than he would have had to pay last year. The question is there and I want an answer to it and not the answer the Minister wants to give.
Unfortunately, the answer the Deputy is going to get is that the farmers will have to pay as much more for their grass seed as the producers received.
Will the Minister even now state how much more the farmer is being asked to pay this year for his grass seed?
Just exactly the same amount. I anticipate—though I do not yet know—that the producer of grass seed has received in this blessed year a price which represents an improvement of about 100 per cent. on the previous year.
Will the Minister then give the House to understand that no percentage profit will be added on by any middlemen or others to that increase which the producers have got?
No. I think it will be true that the farmers of Ireland will be buying perennial ryegrass seed this year at prices substantially higher than they paid last year, but at the lowest prices paid by any farmers in Europe.
But higher than last year.