asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries the number of egg wholesalers and egg dealers now on the register.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Registered Egg Dealers and Wholesalers.
11.
There are 155 registered egg wholesalers and 1,323 registered egg dealers.
Could the Minister say if the strength of this section of the Department is virtually the same as when we were really doing business in exporting eggs? Could he say if there are inspectors still employed at ports in spite of the fact that we are not exporting any eggs?
I do not think that was the question the Deputy asked me.
It is a question leading to it.
He asked the number of wholesalers and egg dealers and I gave that information. Possibly it might help if I also said that the number of wholesalers has shown very little variation over the past five or six years and that the number of egg dealers is still very substantial, as he can see. Inspectors are required, while we retain licensing of these people, to see that they live up to the standards prescribed.
Is it not a fact that the number of egg dealers was reduced by about 120 some time about last Christmas?
That could well be.
Is it not also a fact that the number of wholesalers has been reduced from about 2,000 down to its present number within a few years?
It is the other way around: the wholesalers have a smaller number and the dealers have the bigger number. There is not much variation in the number of wholesalers over the years but there is a fair drop in the dealers——
But is there any difference in the staff?
——but we still have over 1,300 of them.
Have we any inspectors not inspecting eggs?
If there are no eggs, they cannot inspect them.
Will the Minister look at the staffing of this section because it is supposed to be a laugh?
Is it? Thanks for letting me know.
(Interruptions.)
We still have a number of bad eggs about.
That is for the want of inspection.