andMr. McQuillan asked the Minister for Agriculture whether representations have been received from representatives of the livestock trade and the fresh meat trade in regard to the export of cattle and cattle products to West Germany; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Exports of Cattle and Cattle Products to West Germany.
31.
The answer to the first part of the Question is yes. The matter is at present being pursued with the German authorities through the Department of External Affairs.
Is it true the Germans ran out on their word?
We will know more about that later.
May I ask the Minister whether any discussions on that matter took place with Von Brentano when he was here?
As far as I know, the question was not at issue at the time.
The question of trade with Germany, particularly trade in cattle?
That had been determined long before.
Is the allegation, made by the representatives of the livestock industry and other agricultural interests, true that the West German Government have repudiated an agreement to take a certain number of cattle over the next two months?
It is not so easy to answer a question like this in the course of a reply to a Parliamentary Question. It is true that in our discussions with the German authorities last February agreement was reached as to the total value of cattle to be exported for the year. This agreement provided for the export to Germany of twenty million marks worth of cattle which would represent roughly from 20,000 to 25,000 animals in the year. The Germans at that time did express the intention of breaking that up into a weekly quota for the convenience of their own trade. Our people resisted that request as best they could at the time, because such an arrangement would not fit in with our seasonal trading.
Following fairly protracted discussions on the issue, it was finally agreed that a joint consultative body would be set up representative, on the one hand, of traders and officials of my Department and, on the other, of importers and officials on the German side, to watch the situation as it developed and to have discussions if any problems arose. This joint body met in Hamburg on 2nd and 3rd June and arranged, after consultation, that the weekly number of cattle to be exported should reach the 800 mark. That was the understanding of our representatives coming back here, and I believe it is not denied that it was the understanding of all those who took part. But when the German officials went back to their Department of Agriculture, apparently the Department were not willing to accept this arrangement and conveyed to us that as from 26th June the number of animals to be exported would not be 800 but 600 per week. We have taken up this matter with them and are awaiting the outcome of that approach.
Does the Minister expect to have this resolved successfully in a short time?
I should dearly like to.
May I take it that the Minister is treating this as a matter of great urgency in view of what he has said?
It should scarcely be necessary to ask for my assurance in that respect.
We would like it.
Yes.
The fault lies with the Germans. They ran away from their agreement.
They have not done so yet.
They are trying to run away from it.
There is no advantage to be derived from making excessive accusations.
There is a great deal of advantage. We do not want their miserable business. They sell £10 million worth to us and we sell £2 million worth to them.