asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries if he will state, for the latest date for which figures are available and for the corresponding date in 1965, the average price paid for fat cattle (a) in Ireland and (b) in Britain; and if he will give the reasons (i) for the decline in cattle prices and (ii) for the increasing gap between British and Irish prices.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Price of Fat Cattle.
16.
During the week ended 15th July, 1967, the average prices for fat cattle of all kinds at Dublin Market, and the estimated market price in the UK for fat cattle within the standard required under the Fatstock Guarantee Scheme there, were 135s 9d and 134s 10d per cwt liveweight, respectively. The prices in the corresponding week of 1965 were 164s 9d and 184s 1d per cwt liveweight, respectively.
A seasonal decline in market prices at this time of year is a normal feature of the cattle industry both here and in Britain. The gap between the Dublin Market price and the UK market price has been decreasing in recent weeks and, as shown by the foregoing figures, the Dublin Market price in the week ended 15th July was higher than the UK price.
Is the Minister aware that there is a gap of 30/- per cwt between the price Irish farmers are getting now compared with 1965? Can he hold out any hope for the small farmers who are trying to sell their cattle and who at sales in the midlands, the west and the south, cannot sell them even at £10 or £15 less than they were getting this time 12 months ago? Is there any hope for these people?
I have given the Deputy——
(Interruptions.)
If the Deputy will keep quiet, I will answer his supplementary question.
(Interruptions.)
What Deputy L'Estrange apparently has missed is that the balance between the price here and the price in Britain at the particular time of the asking of this question is in our favour. He does not seem to realise this.
It is 30/- a cwt less.
The Deputy walked slapbang into it with his mouth open, and that is just the size of it.
The Minister can twist it anyway he likes, but the price is 30/- a cwt less.
There is no twist: the figures are there.
Cattle are down £15 a head.
The price in Dublin market last week was higher, on average, than in Britain, despite the fact that Deputy L'Estrange has been making the case that the reverse was so.
What consolation is that to the farmer who cannot sell his cattle?
That is not the point.
The Minister is supposed to be interested in the small farmers.
The Deputy was asking about the price in Britain, as if that were the concern of the small farmer here.
As Question No. 17 is the last question the Minister will be answering before the recess, will be now tell us where he was for the past couple of days?
He was over looking for the 2,000 cattle Deputy Haughey was to export to Germany.