asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries how current Irish farm prices for the principal agricultural products compare, taking due account of the impact of transport costs, with the prices which Irish farmers would currently be receiving were Ireland now a member of the EEC.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Farm Prices.
12.
Exact comparisons relating to assumed conditions are difficult but the following data indicate what the broad picture would be for the main products.
The level of the common guide price for cattle in the EEC is about twothirds higher than the Irish price level in 1968, while the common target price for milk in the EEC is more than 50 per cent above our average 1968 price for creamery milk. In the cases of wheat and sugar beet, our guaranteed prices are slightly higher than the EEC prices while our support price for feeding barley is about 20 per cent below that of the community. There is no common target price in the EEC for pigs. The average 1968 price here was slightly above the level at which intervention purchases would have been made in the community.
There are no common target or guide prices in the EEC for poultry or eggs and as yet there is no common organisation of the market there for sheep, oats or potatoes.
It will be realised that the system of target or guide prices does not guarantee those exact prices to every farmer throughout the year.