Vol. 226 No. 8
asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries if he will arrange that Muintir na Tíre be represented on the National Agricultural Council having regard to the long association of that body with life in rural Ireland and the fact that it is a national organisation which could contribute in a very practical way to the success of the Council.
17.
asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries if in setting up the Council for Agriculture he is prepared to allow the vocational bodies to select their own nominees rather than select the six representatives himself.
With your permission, a Cheann Chomhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 16 and 17 together.
I would refer the Deputies to my reply to Deputy Flanagan's question on 8th February when I said I believed that to be effective the Council should be both representative and compact. I also said that four major farm organisations which broadly represent the economic interests of primary producers were being invited to nominate two representatives each to the Council and that six seats would be kept in reserve for particular agricultural interests which might not otherwise be adequately represented.
There are over a hundred farming organisations in this country many of which, including Muintir na Tíre, could put forward a very good case for individual representation on the Council. Moreover, there are certain important agricultural sectors whose interests are served not by one but by a number of separate associations. If all these bodies were to be asked to select nominees we should have a Council so large and unwieldy that the prospect of its providing a useful forum for constructive discussions on agricultural policy matters between the farming community and the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries would be lost. However, I should not like to think that membership of the Council was settled for all time on its inauguration and I believe some flexibility should be maintained so as to enable the Council to reflect changes which may take place from time to time in the organisational structure of farmers' representative bodies.
When making his appointments, would the Minister favourably consider appointing a representative from Muintir na Tíre, as this is a national organisation which could make a very valuable contribution to the Council?
I can assure the Deputy that it will not be for the want of consideration of any bodies that they will not be represented.
Could the Minister say if it is proposed to appoint representatives from the trade unions representing farm workers?
I do not think so.
Does this mean that while the NIEC found it favourable to appoint such representatives, this practice should not be followed in regard to this Council representing the agricultural industry?
It is not just as simple as that. As far as we know, there are 108 agricultural organisations reflecting the interests of various sections of farming and we could not possibly accommodate even a fraction of those on the Council. In the main, we are having representatives of the primary producers, and the question is would a question which might be of interest to a member of a trade union from the agricultural side be of immediate concern to the primary producers?
Of course it must.
Did the Minister say that they would not even be considered?
I did not say that.
May I suggest that the Minister should consider representations from the trade unions catering for agricultural workers, particularly as on the NIEC the trade unions have a one-third representation?
I know they have, but the point is that the NIEC will, I hope, shortly be rearranged so as to embrace agriculture which up to this it has not done and presumably with the representation which the unions quite rightly have, the overall aspects of agriculture as an industry and as it affects them will be taken care of. I am not being dogmatic about this.
Surely the Minister is saying that in fact farmworkers just do not count? The industrial workers must be represented on the NIEC but——
That is an argument, not a question.
This is not the equivalent of the NIEC.
It is.
Why would we be putting people from agriculture on the NIEC, if the NIEC is the equivalent?
Has there been a firm decision to include agriculture on the NIEC?
Yes.
The Minister has not answered my question. I asked if it is the Minister's intention to select six representatives himself?
Yes.
Or, has he now decided to allow vocational bodies, singly or collectively, to make the selections?
Perhaps I did not make myself clear. I wish to say very emphatically that it is my intention to do the nomination myself.
Is the Minister aware that the Minister for Lands said the very opposite, that the Minister was not himself nominating but was leaving it to the farmers' organisations?
Read my reply and it covers both of us.
It does not cover both of you.
Question No. 18.
Would the Minister care to tell us what qualifications will be necessary?
Membership of the Fianna Fáil Party.
I have called Question No. 18.
I should like to say——
The Minister is no more entitled to answer questions I have ruled out than Deputies are to ask them.
The question has already been asked.
It is a question I have ruled out.
Can we have it off the record, then, and will the Press not publish the fact that it was asked?
I am not worried about the Press.
I am.
I have called Question No. 18. That is the question to be answered.
Do what the assistant Whip tells you and do not be naughty.
The fact is that he agrees with me.
He agrees with the Minister.
