Vol. 270 No. 5
asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries if he is aware that barley, bought from growers at the 1973 harvest at prices ranging from £40 to £43 per tonne, is now being resold at £65 per tonne; if he has considered the effect of this profiteering on farmers costs; and if he has any remedial measures in mind.
65.
asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries if he has any steps in mind to prevent a repetition of the profiteering, now rampant, in the feed-grain trade in the 1974 season.
With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 64 and 65 together.
Under the EEC marketing system the price of grain is subject to market forces as long as the price is above the relevant intervention price. Last year there was a large and unexpected increase in grain prices after the harvest and holders of grain profited accordingly. As the price of homegrown grain is governed largely by the price of imported grain, there are no steps open to me to prevent merchants from selling their grain at the going market prices.
