asked the Minister for Agriculture if he is aware that the small-scale rearers of turkeys in the State outnumber the rearers of one hundred or more turkeys by at least one hundred to one; and why the large-scale turkey rearers on the Poultry Production Council outnumber the small-scale turkey rearers by two to one.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Turkey Production.
6.
The Poultry Production Council ceased to exist in February, 1963.
7.
asked the Minister for Agriculture if he is aware that in the report on the export of turkeys by the Advisory Committee on the Marketing of Agricultural Produce (1959) it is stated that the British trade interests in 1958 commented favourably on the size of Irish turkeys; and that they had no serious complaints to make about their grading or packing; and that in the 1963 turkey report of the Poultry Production Council it is stated that turkeys of the average small flock are inadequately fed and consequently are poorly finished birds; if this is the case; if he has any information in regard to this statement; and if he will state the cause or causes of the implied serious deterioration in the quality and finish of the majority of Irish turkeys in the last six years.
The matter is not one of deterioration in the quality of Irish turkeys, the standard of which according to those expert in the business has improved, but rather the development of a very intensive large-scale pattern of production elsewhere since 1958.