asked the Minister for Agriculture when the terms of the phosphate subsidy will be announced; and whether he is aware that delay in doing so has virtually halted all sales of basic slag and ground rock phosphate.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Phosphate Subsidy.
As already announced by radio and Press, the phosphate subsidy scheme is being brought into operation with effect as from the 1st September, 1958. Full details of the rates of subsidy on the different phosphatic fertilisers will be announced within a week or so.
Would the Minister say now what are the distributors to do in respect of slag and rock phosphate, pending that announcement? Is the Minister aware that certain groups of co-operative societies have imported cargoes of slag and simply do not know what to charge for it? Would it be correct to say to them that they should fix a price at which they could distribute it, deduct £4 a ton, and sell it on that basis, in the knowledge that they will receive recoupment in due course?
I do not know if that would be right. I was anxious to get this bare announcement out to indicate to the people about whom Deputy Dillon has spoken, the date from which the subsidy will become payable. Certain discussions are taking place as between the officials of my Department and the manufacturers and importers so as to determine the different rates for each type of phosphate. It is quite a complicated matter. All the same, it should present no difficulty, now that this fundamental announcement has been made. I want to assure the House that, pending the holding of these discussions with the interests I have just mentioned, we cannot make an announcement, but I expect that the full details will be known very shortly. I think the discussions which we have arranged will take place on the 3rd and 5th and, following these, I imagine we should be able at once to indicate what the different rates will be. Until then, the people affected will have to use their own judgment and make their own arrangements.
I quite appreciate the Minister's difficulty. May I suggest to him, whereas it will be relatively easy in respect of superphosphate to relate the subsidy to the phosphatic content, to do that in the case of slag will be virtually impossible, owing to variations in the content? In these circumstances, would the Minister consider fixing a flat rate of subsidy of, say, £4 per ton on slag, whatever its phosphatic content, preserving the relation of the subsidy to the phosphatic content of compound fertiliser and super-phosphates when this can be ascertained later?
I had discussions with my own people this morning and they have given me an idea of the proposals which they are submitting to the interests affected. There is no point in my saying what they are, because they are, I suppose, subject to alteration as a result of these discussions. All I can convey is that we are conscious of the the need for clarity in the shortest possible time and we will endeavour to secure that end.