asked the Minister for Agriculture the names of the states with whom the relevant authority has recently been, or is at present, negotiating for the disposal of part or all surplus butter supplies; and what progress has been made in this matter.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Surplus Butter Supplies.
16.
An Bord Bainne is not negotiating directly with any state for the dispersal of surplus butter. The Board is, however, pursuing inquiries through trade channels in regard to the possibility of exporting butter to a number of countries, including the U.S.S.R. and Czechoslovakia. It is not possible, at this stage, to forecast the outcome of these inquiries.
I take it that the Minister is hopeful that the outcome of these negotiations with the U.S.S.R. and these other countries will be successful, so that we will be able to sell——
I am always living in hope.
And you have no objection, anyway.
May I assume that trade negotiations with these countries will not be based on barter agreements analogous to that trap into which Iceland fell when she bartered fish for oil and was subsequently informed that there was an ancillary clause in the agreement that she must do what she was told also?
Nobody can say in advance of agreement what the conditions of the disposal might be.
We have been accustomed to being told what to do by the British.
That is bad enough, but if we are now to be told what to do by Moscow, it is the devil altogether.