asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce whether his Department has examined the report of the Prices Advisory Body, submitted in April, 1956, in relation to the adjustment of the retail price of meat in accordance with the rise and fall in the price of cattle and sheep, and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Questions— Oral Answers. - Retail Price of Meat.
asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if, in view of the considerable decrease in the price of cattle, he will make an Order adjusting the retail price of meat accordingly.
I propose, with your permission, A Cheann Comhairle, to take Questions Nos. 2 and 3 together.
At my request, the Prices Advisory Body reviewed retail meat prices on a number of occasions during the present year and have furnished a report to me. The report indicates that, in light of all the circumstances, the advisory body do not recommend the making of an Order controlling the retail prices of meat.
I have given this matter the most anxious consideration and I am satisfied that intervention by me would not be in the best interests of the consumer. In the circumstances, I have accepted the recommendation of the Prices Advisory Body.
I wonder if the Minister is aware that in the last six weeks particularly, the price of cattle in the Dublin market, being bought by Dublin butchers, has fallen by as much as 1/6 and 1/8 per lb. and if, in view of that situation, he will not reconsider his decision and insist on the decrease being passed on to the consumer?
I would be most anxious, if it were practicable, to control meat prices and I am quite sure the members of the Prices Advisory Body are likewise anxious. However, the difficulty is the devising of a system which will not boomerang on the consumer. I am advised that, in view of the wide variation in the quality of cattle and sheep, the week-to-week fluctuation and the absence of any satisfactory grading of beef and mutton, it would not be possible to establish any reliable basis on which to fix retail prices for control purposes. The Prices Advisory Body have also intimated to me that a survey of 31 butchers' shops in Dublin disclosed that there were differences between the highest and lowest prices extending from 6d. per lb. to 19d. per lb. The only remedy you could find for it is one which might boomerang on the consumer, possibly resulting in his having to pay the minimum price for an inferior class of meat.
Further arising out of the reply, I have no doubt the Minister is aware that the bulk of the meat bought in the Dublin market for Dublin consumption is bought at a price far below the actual published price. I would ask the Minister to consider the formulation of a scheme of price control similar to that adopted in relation to bacon which varies in accordance with fluctuation in the price of pigs. That scheme is working very satisfactorily and I think the Minister might explain to the House why the same scheme could not operate in the matter of beef and mutton.
Because the grades are different and because of the fact that one is converted by processing while the other is eaten shortly after it is bought. This is an extremely difficult matter and if the Deputy has any recipe for its solution I would be glad to consider it. So will the Prices Advisory Body. I shall be glad to make available to the Deputy the principal difficulties encountered in this matter to see whether her ingenuity will enable her to find a solution to the problem.