asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries his present attitude towards the problem of reorganisation of the creamery industry; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Creamery Industry Reorganisation.
12.
Government policy in relation to rationalisation and diversification of the creamery and milk processing industry is set out in the Third Programme for Economic and Social Development (pages 55 and 56). Every encouragement is given to the development in accordance with this policy, of sound rationalisation and diversification projects for particular areas and it is my intention that the economic and social aspects of such projects will be evaluated carefully and objectively before being adopted for implementation
I should like to ask the Minister what action, if any, he has taken on the recommendations of the Cooke-Sprague report?
The Deputy asked me what my attitude was towards this problem and I have given him my answer.
Has the Minister accepted the findings of the report in toto? Does he propose to make any statement relative to the report? There is a great deal of confusion in regard to both the attitude of the Minister and his Department towards the findings of the Cooke-Sprague report.
We had a press conference months ago at which the matter was gone into fairly fully and I have not anything further to add now to what I said at the time of the publication of the report.
In view of the fact that the Minister's views were at variance with the views expressed by Messrs. Cooke and Sprague on the occasion of the Minister's visit to Limerick some months ago would the Minister now clarify his attitude and that of his Department once and for all?
When there are so many doubts expressed in an effort to confuse the issue it is very difficult for me and my Department to make clear what the intention is. There has been a good deal of confusion generated around the south of Ireland as to what would result from rushing willy-nilly into rationalisation. Figures of 6d and 1s per gallon have been held out to people provided they jump head first into rationalisation. I have been at pains to make it clear that this sort of jumping in head first is not the proper approach. All aspects must be considered before we make a change. Without proper consideration any change might be for the worse and not for the better. It is in that context I made the most recent statement in the Deputy's constituency and it was made in order to try to clarify the situation and get away from this madcap idea that there was all this big money to be gained from rationalisation, rationalisation merely as an exercise. That big money just is not there. There is a great deal to be done. I should like a balanced view rather than this wild idea of rationalisation adding 6d or 1s a gallon to the price of milk for the benefit of the producer in any part of the country. That is just not so and it was to try to get away from that and have the situation looked at clearly by the producers, in particular, that I made the statement on the occasion to which the Deputy referred; I made it to counteract the wild talk going on at that particular time.