With your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 30 to 35 together.
Our turkey production and exports have been declining in recent years as a result of the very great expansion of turkey production in Britain on mass production lines as compared with the traditional system of farm production here and elsewhere. While very many people regard the flavour of fresh turkeys reared on free range as superior to that of oven-ready birds reared and fattened under the modern intensive system, the matter of flavour is, of course, conditioned by the development of tastes and habits generally and it is a fact that oven-ready turkeys and poultry are advancing in popularity on the principal markets.
Steps have been taken in recent years to help in maintaining the market for our exports of turkeys in the face of the growing competition from British birds, e.g. improvements in quality of Irish turkey stocks and in the standard of marketing dressed turkeys and participation in promotion of demand for Irish turkeys through advertising media, exhibitions and displays.
In view of the smaller numbers, this year's promotional work is on a more limited basis. As much advance information as possible regarding the expected level of Irish turkey supplies is made available to British wholesalers each year both through the contacts which the exporters here maintain with their British agents and through discussions on the turkey market which officers of my Department have each year with representatives of the British National Federation of Wholesale Poultry Merchants.
Such a discussion was held last month at which the British wholesalers indicated that it would, of course, facilitate them if they could get fairly accurate advance information as to the numbers of turkeys which their Irish suppliers would be able to send them and the probable timing. At a recent meeting which my Department arranged with the principal turkey exporters, it was the opinion of the exporters' representatives that it would be impracticable for exporters to give reliable advance estimates of the quantity which they could secure individually on the open market and which would be available for export. I am not aware that any turkey exporters do provide their British salesmen with such firm forecasts.
The conditions under which small flocks of turkeys are produced here can vary so much that there is no generally accepted comprehensive figure of average production costs. In the case of a few sample lots supervised by poultry advisory officers during the past couple of years for flocks of about 30 to 50 birds marketed at 26 weeks I have seen average cost figures varying from 1/8½d. to 2/3d. per lb. liveweight. Some British costings I have seen have indicated an average cost of 1/9¾d. in 1960 and 2/- in 1961, covering turkeys marketed at 16 and 24 weeks but I cannot say how representative these figures are.
As regards the turkey industry generally and what can be done to increase exports, I asked the representative Poultry Production Council appointed by me in 1960 to examine the position. In their report, which has been published, they expressed little hope in existing circumstances of increasing exports of fresh turkeys or even maintaining their present level.
