asked the Minister for Agriculture what steps he proposes to take to ensure that farmers will be able to sell their oats during the coming season.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Sale of Oats.
3.
The market for oats as a cash crop is limited and the bulk of the crop is normally fed to livestock on the growers' farms. It has not been the policy in the past to exercise official control over the marketing of this crop, and it is not proposed to introduce such control this year. The import of oats for feeding and milling will not, however, be permitted if sufficient supplies are available from the home crop to meet requirements.
In view of the fact that the lofts of the merchants and of the millers are filled to capacity at present and that it is very probable that they will not be able to dispose of the oats they have on hands in time for the coming harvest, what will happen if farmers come along with a new harvest supply of oats and neither the merchants nor the millers can take it because of the supplies they already have on hands?
My information is that only small quantities of rather inferior oats may be knocking around in some places. We have no evidence that there is any large quantity of that type of oats. It was not regarded as suitable for milling purposes nor was it regarded as suitable for bloodstock or for the feeding of race horses.
I am reliably informed that, around Dundalk, there are about 2,000 barrels of oats on the hands of the merchants at present.
According to my information, the only part of the country where oats of the type I have mentioned are available is County Louth but it is not supposed to be a large quantity.
The Minister must be aware, because I am sure his Department give the licences, that we are importing oats already.
We have imported some oats.
Would the Minister not consider that the importation of oats now will fill the millers' lofts and put the millers into a position in which they can say to the farmers, when the harvest comes in: "We have plenty of oats; you will have to take them home" or else they will give them only 10/- a barrel for them?
All applications for licences have been very carefully scrutinised. The quantity imported is very small — certainly as small as we can possibly keep it.
I have no doubt that the applications have been scrutinised very carefully. I put it to the Minister that he should cease the importation of oats right away.
Is the Minister aware that, two months ago, oatmeal millers were alleging that there were no oats suitable for conversion into oatmeal and were getting licences but that there are some millable oats in County Louth? Would he tell the millers who asked him for licences two or three months ago on the grounds that no millable oats were left in Ireland to go to County Louth to-day and to look for what they alleged two or three months ago was not there?
We are satisfied that millable oats are not available. It would be wrong of me or of any Minister, seeing that the use of oats for the production of oatmeal is declining very rapidly because of the taste of the public, to resist when I have satisfied myself that their case, their claim and their application are genuine. I endeavoured to do that before any licence was issued. These licences would not have been issued at any time if we were satisfied that Irish oats suitable for milling purposes were available.