asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries if he intends to seek a calf premium from the guarantee section of EAGGF to arrest the depletion of the Irish cattle herd.
7.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Irish Cattle Herd.
6.
asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries if, having regard to the fact that 25 per cent of the cow-herd will have been slaughtered in 1975 and considering the disastrous implications of this fact, he will introduce a special calved heifer scheme and an effective premium on calves payable in two moieties one year apart.
With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 6 and 7 together.
Until the Commission present their price proposals for 1976 and until we enter into discussions of these proposals it would be inappropriate for me publicly to disclose in advance what my attitude will be towards price support in the cattle and beef sector. It will, however, be my aim in those discussions to ensure that any premium arrangements approved by the Council will best assist Irish cattle producers and further the development of the Irish cattle industry.
Could I remind the Minister that a little later than this time 12 months this party asked him to seek an arrangement at the prices review last February similar to that got by the Italian Government in the form of a calf subsidy of £25 and the Minister at that time rejected our suggestion? I want to say again that having regard to the wholesale slaughter of the Irish cow herd and the urgent need for the rebuilding of the beef herd, special measures such as those I have advocated, or a national scheme for the fostering of small Irish beef herds throughout the country, are needed.
I do not agree at all with the amount of alarm the Deputy is expressing——
Half a million cows to date.
It is not half a million.
According to the Livestock Board it is.
I want to draw the Deputy's attention to the fact that when the Italians got that arrangement they had to forego the premium scheme. They had to forego the intervention scheme and they had to forego two other special schemes they had at that time. It is the one scheme they got. Are we prepared to accept that subsidy in exchange for all the other aids and supports we have? I do not think that if that proposition was put to the Irish farmers it would be accepted by them.
I am quite sure the Minister is well aware that 3,000 bull calves are leaving this country every week. That has been happening during the past six months. This will cause a very big depletion of bullock stocks.
A subsidy introduced for calves that are making up to £70 at the moment? Are we being serious? We are crying about these exports and forgetting that calves were being sold at £5 apiece. Then we were crying in another direction.
Is the Minister aware that in spite of the fact that the Italian Government ostensibly had to forego intervention when they opted for the subsidy scheme, in spite of the fact that the Italian price for cattle is about 110 per cent the guide price——
The Deputy amazes me when he says the Italians are selling beef into intervention. They are by far the greatest importers.
8.
asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries the percentage decline in the total cow-herd (a) in Europe and (b) in Ireland; the reasons for the difference; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The Irish cow-herd in June, 1975, was provisionally estimated to have fallen by 4.9 per cent. No corresponding figures are available for Europe as a whole. However in EEC countries total cow numbers have declined each year since 1973. This year the estimated fall is 2.5 per cent. In the United Kingdom, West Germany and Denmark the percentage decline was 5.6, 2.1 and 2.0 respectively.
The decline in Irish cow numbers was due primarily to the culling of older animals, large numbers of which had been retained beyond normal herd life during the build-up of the national herd to the record June, 1974, level.
The fall in the cow herd in Western Europe has been largely due to a rise in the relative prices of feed grains coupled with poor pasture conditions.
The current market prices for calves, store and fat cattle, the price for milk and the outlook for the next few years justify further expansion of the national cow herd and I am confident that in this situation our farmers will take full advantage of their opportunities.
Could I ask the Minister the source of his figure of 4.9 per cent——
The Central Statistics Office.
——when according to the bulletin of the Livestock Board 500,000 cows have been slaughtered to date this year? There are about 2 million cows in the country and in my opinion that slaughter represents 25 per cent? In fact, I think it would be about 27 per cent of the total cow herd that has been slaughtered this year. The comparable figure for the rest of the Community for the Minister's benefit is 1 per cent.
The Deputy is proceeding to impart information rather than seek it.
For the Minister to say that there has been a drop of only 4.9 per cent in the cow herd is absolute nonsense in the context of the well-known fact that 500,000 have been slaughtered.
This is leading to argument. Question No. 9.