asked the Minister for Agriculture if in view of (a) the statement in the Government's Policy on the recommendations of the Advisory Committee on the Export Marketing of Irish Agricultural Produce that low provisional prices for turkeys could be expected to depress the prices payable by British importers aware of these provisional prices, and involve turkey producers in very serious losses, and (b) the fact that the allegations in the Poultry Production Council's report on the turkey industry in February 1963 that the average small flocks of Irish turkeys do not merit or receive the necessary degree of care, in many cases are poorly managed, inadequately fed and consequently are poorly finished birds for which the marketing agencies cannot obtain best prices, can in like manner be expected to depress the prices payable by the British importers aware of the Council's published statements, thereby involving the turkey producers in very serious losses during this coming Christmas marketing period, he will state what steps he has taken, or proposes to take, to protect such turkey rearers against such unnecessary losses.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Turkey Production.
I do not accept that there will be any losses of the kind suggested.
16.
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, which ceased to exist in February, 1963, outnumbered the small scale turkey rearers by two to one.
As regards the first part of the question, statistics are available only for the year 1960 when the number of holdings having turkeys which carried less than 100 birds greatly outnumbered those which carried 100 or more turkeys.
As regards the second part of the question, the Poultry Production Council established by me in 1960 examined the question of production and exports of broiler chickens and turkeys and I appointed the members of the Council as suitable persons to do so.