I move:
That a supplementary sum not exceeding £3,167,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1967, for the Salaries and Expenses of the Office of the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, including certain Services administered by that Office, and for payment of certain Subsidies and Sundry Grants-in-Aid.
The net amount of this Supplementary Estimate, added to the original Estimate for 1966-67, brings the total net expenditure from the Vote for Agriculture to £38,476,000.
The main items in the present Estimate are Subhead K.12 — Bovine Tuberculosis Eradication Scheme, Subhead K.21 — Beef, Mutton and Lamb Export Guarantee Schemes, Subhead K.22 — Temporary Scheme of Headage Payments on Fat Cattle exported for immediate slaughter, Subhead K.23— Scheme of Grants for Farrowed Sows and Subhead N. — Marketing of Dairy Produce. The gross total of the additional sums required under the various subheads amounts to over £5½ million but against this it is now estimated that Appropriations-in-Aid will be over £½ million greater than the original provision and also that there will be savings on other subheads of the Vote amounting to over £1.8 million.
An additional sum of £2,399,000 is needed to meet the cost of the support given to cattle and sheep prices. This is made up of £1,739,000 to meet the extra cost of the support payments on carcase beef, mutton and lamb exported to Britain and £660,000 to meet expenditure under the Temporary Fat Cattle Headage Payments Scheme of last autumn.
As Deputies are aware, the Anglo-Irish Free Trade Area Agreement provides for extension of the UK fatstock guarantees to 25,000 tons of Irish carcase beef and 5,500 tons of Irish carcase mutton and lamb exported annually to Britain. For exports in excess of those quantities the Irish Government are providing a similar level of support.
Exports of carcase beef, mutton and lamb to Britain since 1st July, 1966, when the Free Trade Area Agreement came into operation, have been running at a high level and it is estimated that for the nine months ending 31st March, 1967, support payments will have been made on a total of 38,500 tons of beef and 8,350 tons of mutton and lamb, at a total cost of about £1,758,000. For the first three months of the financial year, that is, the quarter ended 30th June, 1966, £56,000 was expended on support payments on carcase beef exports to Britain under the temporary scheme introduced by the Irish Government in February, 1965. The total support payments on carcase beef, mutton and lamb exports for the year 1966-67, as a whole, will, therefore, amount to about £1,814,000.
As against that amount, the payments which we will receive from the British Government on our exports of beef, mutton and lamb under the Free Trade Area Agreement for the nine months from 1st July last to 31st March, 1967, will amount to about £1 million. These payments will be made on 18,750 tons of beef and 4,125 tons of lamb, that is, three-quarters of the amounts provided for a full year in the Agreement. The precise amount to be secured from the British Government cannot be calculated until after the end of the British fatstock year on 26th March and none of the money will be received before the end of the present financial year. It is expected, however, that we will receive most of it during April.
The fat cattle headage payments scheme was, of course, introduced as a special emergency measure at the end of August to strengthen market conditions for cattle producers here at a time when prices weakened. This weakening of prices has been brought about by a number of factors outside our control, the principal ones being the sluggish demand from Britain for our stores and the virtual closing of the EEC markets to imports of cattle and beef as a result of the imposition of very high levies. I think there can be little doubt but that the fat cattle headage payments scheme kept trade moving during a very difficult period and prevented what could have been a more serious situation in the market. Other countries such as Britain herself and Denmark were, of course, equally affected by the difficult cattle and beef market situation last autumn.
A sum of £1,240,000 is required under Subhead N — Marketing of Dairy Produce. Deliveries of milk to creameries set a new record in 1966, the total quantity used for manufacturing purposes being 406 million gallons, which was 14 million gallons, or 3.6 per cent above the 1965 level. The late spring seriously retarded milk production during the early part of last year, and if weather conditions had been more favourable, deliveries to creameries during the year would certainly have been appreciably higher.
The general creamery milk price allowance paid by the Exchequer was increased from 4d. to 6d. per gallon as from 27th May, 1966, and the extra sum required to meet this is £2,305,000.
I am glad to say that the special extra allowance for quality milk which was introduced in May, 1965, is proving successful. In framing this year's Estimates it had been assumed that some 40 per cent of the milk delivered to creameries would receive the quality allowance. In fact, almost 49 per cent of the milk qualified in 1966, and because of this an extra £102,000 is now required to meet the cost of this quality allowance. As Deputies are aware, the special quality allowance will be increased from 1d. to 2d. per gallon on 1st April next. This increased allowance represents a very significant bonus on the basic price of milk and makes it well worthwhile for producers to take all possible steps to ensure that their milk qualifies for the extra allowance each month.
A grant of up to £18,000 was sanctioned in 1965-66 for a milk collection pilot scheme operated by the Waterford Co-operative Society and £10,000 was paid to the society in that year. Only a token provision was made in this year's Estimate as it was not certain when the balance of the grant would be required. An additional £7,000 was in fact sought during the year, and that sum is now included in this Supplementary Estimate. The pilot scheme is designed to test the operation of bulk milk collection under Irish conditions and the final results are not yet available.
The gross total of the extra amounts now being sought for the creamery milk price allowance, the quality milk allowance and the milk collection pilot scheme comes to £2,414,000 but, as there is a saving of £1,174,000 in the amount provided by way of grant to An Bord Bainne, the net increase required under the Subhead is £1,240,000. The sum provided for An Bord Bainne in this year's Estimate was £4,750,000 but it now appears that, due to such factors as the effects of the late spring on total milk production and the better prices prevailing on exports markets, the actual loss will be about £3,576,000. The improved export returns arose particularly in the case of cheese, the improvement in that case being due primarily to the grading scheme introduced by my Department during the year. This grading scheme has resulted in considerable trade interest in Irish cheese in Britain and it is expected that it will help to achieve a further reduction in export losses in the future.
The total sum being provided by the Exchequer for milk support including the grant to An Bord Bainne, is £13,880,000 or about 8d. per gallon of milk delivered to creameries. The comparable total for 1965-66 was £10,704,000. These large sums are convincing evidence of the Government's willingness to assist the dairying industry within the limits of available resources.
In regard to Subhead K.12, the expenditure on the Bovine Tuberculosis Eradication Scheme for the year is now estimated at £2,882,000, which represents an increase of £1,000,000 over the sum already provided. As an offset to this, the receipts in respect of the salvage of reactors are also estimated to show an increase of £552,000 on the original estimate of £400,000. The main reason for the excess expenditure is that in the six counties of the South, which were attested in October, 1965, the percentage of reactors to the tuberculin test was higher than expected. This increase in the incidence of the disease, while disappointing, is not of great significance, and there is every hope that the 1967 round of testing will show a considerable improvement.
During the past year there has been a decline in pig output in most pigproducing countries in Western Europe. Despite price support measures in many countries the traditional pig cycle has not been eliminated. This country has not been immune from the general cyclical decline and total deliveries to bacon factories during the year 1966 were 1.65 million pigs approximately, as compared with the record total of nearly 1.8 million pigs in 1965. The 1966 figure, was, however, substantially higher than in the years prior to 1965. With a view to countering at an early stage the downward trend in pig production my predecessor announced in May, 1966, a scheme of grants for farrowed sows. Under this scheme a grant of £5 is paid for each farrowed sow up to a maximum of five in each herd. In this Supplementary Estimate I am providing in Subhead K. 23 a sum of £275,000 to cover the cost of the farrowed sow scheme up to 31st March. It is too early yet to indicate the effects of the scheme which is to continue up to September next. The records of sow services, however, suggest that the downward trend in production has been halted.
Last year two schemes were introduced with a view to helping mountain sheep farmers. These schemes were based on recommendations made to my predecessor by an expert group which he set up to examine the problem. One scheme provided for the payment of a subsidy of 10/- each on Blackface Mountain and Cheviot wether lambs sold off the hills in the period from 1st August to 15th October and which were considered by the Department's inspectors to be suitable for finishing on the lowlands. Under the second scheme a subsidy of £1 each was paid on Greyface and Halfbred hogget ewes presented for inspection at approved centres in the period 1st August to 30th September.
The immediate purpose of the schemes was to improve the quality and productivity of mountain flocks by encouraging the removal of the two most unproductive types of sheep off the mountains. In addition, the lamb subsidy was intended to provide lowland farmers with an improved supply of wethers suitable for fattening while the hogget ewe subsidy was intended to encourage flock owners in the foothills to buy Blackface Mountain and Cheviot ewes from mountain flocks for mating with Border Leicester rams to produce the Greyface and Halfbred ewes on which the subsidy was payable at the hogget stage. Under these schemes subsidy was paid on approximately 67,000 wether lambs and 11,500 hogget ewes, the total expenditure being £47,000 including incidental expenses of approximately £2,000. I am having the schemes reviewed in the light of suggestions made from various sources and of the experience gained last year.
An additional sum of £30,500 is required under Subhead K.10 for the Warble Fly Eradication Scheme. This scheme which has been in operation on a countrywide basis for the past three years has been an outstanding success. In 1964 over two million cattle were dressed, in 1965 4½ million approximately and in 1966 about five million. The level of infestation with warbles, which a few years ago was as high as 60 per cent to 70 per cent dropped to 3 per cent after the 1965 campaign. Information recently received from Britain indicates that, of Irish cattle arriving there in 1966, only 0.8 per cent showed warble infestation. A decision on the future of the eradication campaign cannot be taken until we have completed a survey of the incidence of warbles in cattle in the coming weeks.
In the meantime the staffs of my Department's district offices are engaged on a spring campaign aimed at dressing for warbles cattle which were not treated in the autumn. I am anxious to give all owners of such cattle a further opportunity of having them dressed and I would appeal to them to get in touch with their district veterinary offices with a view to arranging treatment. I am afraid there will be no option but to take action against cattle owners who do not avail themselves of this final opportunity to dress their cattle. There is also the possibility that, since the dressings used are not 100 per cent effective in every case, some cattle which were dressed and duly certified in the autumn may show some slight evidence of infestation during the next few months which is the season when warbles normally appear on the animals' backs. Any such certified cattle will be re-dressed free of charge.
The standard charge of 3/- per animal will be made for dressing uncertified cattle and on this basis it is anticipated that the spring dressing campaign will be self-supporting. Accordingly the sum of £8,500 shown in the Estimate under Subhead K.10 (3) is offset by a corresponding Appropriation in Aid in Subhead P. (31).
Subhead K.10 also contains a provision of £22,000 for compensation to herdowners for losses attributable to the dressings used under the Scheme. It will be noted from Subhead P. (32) that this expenditure will be offset by receipts from the proceeds of a charge of one penny per dressing certificate issued for cattle treated in the 1966 dressing campaign.
A sum of £15,000 is required under Subhead L.1., of which £13,500 is for compensation for fowl destroyed as a result of fowl pest outbreaks during 1966. With regard to the fowl pest situation, I should like to emphasise again that, although the condition has been labelled fowl pest, the only relation to that disease is in the positive reaction to a blood test. In no case were there clinical signs of the disease. Neither was there any spread of the condition nor any drop in production from birds showing positive reactions and in no case was the virus isolated.
While on the subject of animal disease, I would refer to the ever-present danger of the introduction of foot and mouth disease into this country. Holland is at present badly affected, and since the beginning of the year fresh outbreaks have occurred in Italy, West Germany and, nearer home, in Britain. My Department has intensified the precautionary measures which are continuously in operation against the introduction of the disease, but the effectiveness of these measures depends on the full co-operation of all concerned. I would appeal especially to persons in the livestock trade travelling abroad, and to Irish people working abroad on the land or in meat processing plants, etc., to be particularly cautious when abroad and to report for disinfection to my Department's staff at ports and airports immediately on landing in this country.
A sum of £196,000 is required under Subhead K.8 of which £188,000 is to meet excess expenditure on the Land Project Lime and Fertiliser Credit Scheme. The original estimate was £185,000. The generous credit terms provided under this scheme are attracting an increasing number of applications and present indications are that this increased interest will continue.
The original provision made under Subhead F for grants to county committees of agriculture is now estimated to be insufficient to the extent of £55,000.
A further £29,000 is also required under Subhead K.16 in respect of grants for forage harvesting equipment. I am glad to say that this scheme is proving very popular and applications for grants have been increasing each year since its introduction.
Deputies will note that, under Subhead D.10, I am seeking £2,000 for the Farm Apprenticeship Scheme. This arises from the fact that this year we propose, for the first time, to pay the Farm Apprenticeship Board a grant towards their administrative expenses. This is made up of a basic grant of £1,200 plus a supplementary grant of £1 for every £1 which the Board raises from non-State sources up to a maximum of £800.
Under Subhead D.4 and D.5, I am seeking £46,000 for the Veterinary Medicine faculty of University College, Dublin and the school of Veterinary Medicine of Trinity College. This is due partly to the transfer of some staff from the payroll of the Veterinary College to that of the Universities and partly to increases in pay granted by the Universities to their teaching staffs last year. So far as the staff transferred is concerned there is, of course, a resultant saving in the provision for the Veterinary College itself — Subhead D.3 — which has been taken into account in the total savings shown in the Estimate.
While on the subject of university education, I would like to take the opportunity of informing the House that I have told the authorities of University College, Cork, that they may go ahead with arrangements for the extension of their Dairy Science Faculty. I regard this project, which will ultimately involve State outlay of over half a million pounds, as highly important for the future of the country's dairy industry. All going well, it is hoped to commence building work around next September.
Under Subhead C.C.3 an additional sum of £150,000 is required for the purpose of increasing the amount of this country's pledge to the World Food Programme in the current three-year period, 1966 to 1968. As the House knows the Programme is a joint UN/FAO project which aims at the utilisation of surplus food donated by member countries of these organisations in implementing social and economic development programmes in the developing countries of the world. The target set for the Programme in the current period was 275 million dollars but the total amount pledged by all countries to date is of the order of 155 million dollars. The United Nations and the Food and Agriculture Organisation have recently appealed to member states to increase their pledges to enable the goal of 275 million dollars to be reached.
A sum of £450,000 was pledged on behalf of Ireland in January, 1966, and the additional amount now being sought will increase our pledge to £600,000. Ireland's pledge to the Programme in its initial three-year period from 1963 to 1965, when the target set was 100 million dollars, was £300,000. This country's pledges to the Programme are fulfilled on the basis of approximately one-third of the pledge being provided in cash and the balance in Irish foodstuffs, usually milk-powder and canned meat.
The additional sum of £60,000 required under Subhead A is to meet the cost of tenth round pay increases.
