Vol. 265 No. 7
asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries if his attention has been drawn to statements by the British Minister for Agriculture that there should be no increase in the price of butter this year; and if the same position will apply in this country.
121.
asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries if he will arrange to give dairy farmers the benefit of the milk price increases and at the same time avoid passing the burden on to the consumer.
With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 120 and 121 together.
As a result of the arrangements negotiated by me in Luxembourg last week, the support prices for butter and skim milk powder to apply here from Monday next, 14th May, will represent between 2p and 2½p per gallon of creamery milk more than those currently in operation. When this improvement is combined with the effects of the introduction of the EEC system here and the arrangements for dealing with international monetary changes, the overall result for Irish creamery suppliers will be a return this year of about 4½ per gallon more for their milk than they obtained last year.
As regards the effect on the price of butter to consumers, additional funds are being provided by the Government in order to ensure that, taking account of the EEC subsidy to be financed from FEOGA, the consumer price of butter following the removal of VAT will not be higher than at present.
