I move:
That a supplementary sum not exceeding £4,647,360 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on 31st March, 1961, for the Salaries and Expenses of the Office of the Minister for Agriculture, including certain Services administered by that Office, and for payment of certain Subsidies and sundry Grants-in-Aid.
The additional expenditure which has given rise to this Supplementary Estimate relates mainly to four items— assistance to the dairying industry; the scheme for eradication of bovine tuberculosis; the special arrangements made in regard to wheat of the 1960 crop; and assistance to the pig and bacon industries.
The Supplementary Estimate is largely a reflection of increases in agricultural production which have occurred during the past year, as well as of advances in the campaign to stamp out bovine tuberculosis. The increase in production is a very healthy sign, but it has, inevitably, involved certain additional expenditure by the State. In the case of dairy products (Subhead P.), exports of creamery butter produced in the 1960-61 season are estimated at 13,000 tons, valued at almost £3,500,000, representing a considerable increase on the previous year, and exports of other milk products are estimated at approximately £6,500,000.
Last year proved to be a very good year for milk production—in fact the best on record, with one exception. We had a lot of rain, but not, as in 1958, too much rain so far as milk is concerned. The price of creamery milk was increased by 1s. 3d. per gallon as from the 13th April, 1960, and this encouraged milk producers to keep in production. Furthermore, the efficiency of milk production has increased in recent years, and milk yields are tending upwards. The fertiliser subsidies also are helping farmers to get a better return from their grassland than in the past.
While the price of milk involves considerable State expenditure in present circumstances, it is not a very high price generally, judged by European standards. It is essential to give a reasonable degree of support to milk, as it is the key factor in our whole agricultural economy. Unfortunately, international butter prices have followed an erratic course during the past year, fluctuating from about 410s. per cwt. at the beginning of 1960 to 250s. recently. We have been doing everything possible to divert milk from butter into other milk products, and the outlook is now quite promising for increased production of milk powder and cheese in particular.
The payment on wheat (Subhead M. 15) relates to the special arrangements made for the benefit of wheat growers in 1960/61. The total mill intake of wheat from the 1960 crop, at 350,000 tons dried, came very near the figure on which the wheat levy had been based, and the proceeds of the levy would have been sufficient to finance the disposal of surplus wheat if all or most of the wheat crop had been of a high-grade millable quality. Unfortunately, because of the very unfavourable season, a considerable proportion of the crop was not suitable for inclusion in the flour grist at the normal level, and, in order to avoid the losses which farmers would have suffered if they had had to take the feed price for such wheat, the Government arranged that the millable wheat prices would be paid for all sound and sweet wheat. The net cost of this arrangement to the Exchequer is estimated at well over £1,000,000, of which £800,000 is being met in the current financial year.
The increased provision under Subhead M.14 is due mainly to the substantial rise in the production of pigs, and the corresponding rise in exports of pigmeat. Assistance is given to the industry, not only out of this Subhead but also out of the proceeds of the levy collected by the Pigs and Bacon Commission on all pigs slaughtered for conversion into bacon. The number of pigs in the country at the last June census was higher than at any time during the past ten years, and the deliveries of pigs to bacon factories during the second half of 1960 were also higher than in any previous year. Prices for bacon on the export market remain rather uncertain, and there are signs of increasing production in most of the important exporting countries.
I may mention that the new Special A grade for bacon, which we introduced last May, has been successful in establishing better quality standards, and this bacon commands higher prices in Britain. It is generally agreed that there has been an overall improvement in the quality of our bacon during the past year or two, and, if we can maintain and expand the present volume of exports, we should be able to provide the continity of supply which is so important if the best prices are to be secured in export markets.
Subhead M. 11 includes a provision for the special export arrangements introduced last July, whereby a market was provided for uncertificated fat cattle which, otherwise, might have had to be sold at very uncertain prices and might have been retained in this country for an unduly long period, thus increasing the risk of the spread of bovine tuberculosis. This scheme is not a scheme of subsidies on fat cattle; it is a T.B. scheme introduced to meet a serious problem, but a problem which will pass within a couple of years.
Another reason for the increase in expenditure on eradication of bovine T.B., compared with the original estimate, is that the amount of testing done by veterinary surgeons and the amount of payments on reactors and for the clear herd bonus in the south have been substantially greater than was anticipated. This, of course, means that the pace of our activities under the scheme was accelerated.
There is also an increase in the expenditure on the special water supply grants under the Bovine T.B. Eradication Scheme. This is a reflection of the increasing awareness of farmers of the need for a high standard of hygiene if the disease is to be kept permanently at bay.
In the period since last December, seven counties in the west and north-west—Donegal, Sligo, Mayo, Clare, Galway, Leitrim and Roscommon, have been declared attested. The number of cattle in these seven counties is 1,250,000, or approximately one-quarter of the total number of cattle in the whole country. The attestation of these counties is a major step forward towards the goal of complete attestation of the entire country. I am very hopeful that Counties Cavan, Monaghan and Longford can be declared attested by the middle of this year.
We have recently declared a new clearance area, covering Counties Meath, Westmeath, Louth, Offaly and Kildare. A great deal has already been done in these counties and the disease position has improved considerably. How quickly they can be attested will, of course, depend mainly on the efforts of the farmers and veterinary surgeons concerned.
We are hopeful that we can begin clearance measures in the south in about a year's time. The problem in the south is more difficult than in other parts of the country, but it is encouraging to note that the incidence of the disease in the south, though still heavy among cows, is considerably better than it was five years ago, and that the incidence in store cattle in particular has shown a marked fall. Under the Special Southern Scheme, 120,000 cow reactors have been removed from the herds since the scheme was introduced on the 1st October, 1959, and over 5,500 herds have earned the Clear Herd Bonus. The compulsory pasteurisation of separated milk, which has now been in operation since April, 1959, has also proved of great benefit.
As regards the other subheads in this Supplementary Estimate, it will be observed that provision is made in Subhead M.8 for the subsidy on potash fertiliser which was announced last April and came into effect on the 1st September last. The phosphate subsidy is, of course, being maintained at the same time. As a result of the subsidies, potash and phosphates are now available to the farmers at particularly attractive prices, and nitrogen fertiliser also is relatively cheap. This is, therefore, a specially suitable time in which to increase the use of fertilisers, particularly on grassland which is the country's most valuable natural resource and which could be raised to a much higher level of fertility by judicious use of fertilisers and good management.
In Subhead E.3, provision is made for a contribution to the Freedom from Hunger Campaign of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. When introducing my Estimate for 1960/61. I mentioned this campaign and that the Government had made a payment of 10,000 dollars to the FAO in support of the campaign. The formal authority of the Dáil is now being sought for this payment. The campaign is not of a relief nature—that is to say, it is not concerned with sending supplies of foodstuffs to needy peoples; its fundamental purpose is to improve the standard of agricultural practices in the underdeveloped areas, for example by sending first-class experts to these areas to help the various Governments concerned to teach their farmers better methods of cultivation generally; in other words, the object of the campaign is to enable the underdeveloped countries to help themselves. It is a very sound and well-conceived scheme which has aroused world-wide interest, and I am sure that the Dáil will agree that it is well worthy of our support.
Notice taken that 20 Members were not present; House counted, and 20 Members being present.
