asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries if his attention has been drawn to the wide variation in animal feedingstuff prices at different centres as shown in a publication (name supplied) in January, 1976; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Feedingstuff Prices.
4.
It is generally accepted that the discontinuance of price control on the manufacturers' prices for compound feedingstuffs has resulted in more competition within the industry and consequently in a reduction in the overall cost to feeders. In these circumstances, prices are liable to vary in different parts of the country.
The prices to which the Deputy refers are retail prices of both compounds and straight feeds which are affected by many factors such as packaging in comparatively small quantities; the price of the raw materials at time of purchase; the level of the business carried on in these products by the retailers concerned and the varying costs of manufacture and transport of both the raw materials and the finished products.
Is the Parliamentary Secretary aware that the same thing applies here as in fertilisers, that is, there is a variation in prices in adjoining counties for ground barley meal of £19 per ton, in soya bean meal of £11 per ton, of meat and bone meal of £21 per ton and compound layers mash of £16 per ton? Is he further aware——
A brief question, please.
When replying to the last question the Parliamentary Secretary's excuse was that the wholesalers had stocks on hand, but this is not so with barley meal. Could he explain that?
A somewhat similar position applies to feedingstuffs as applies to fertilisers. We set out in the Farm Bulletin the prices obtaining at 13 different centres: Wicklow, New Ross, Carrick-on-Suir, Athlone, Roscommon, Killeshandra, Monaghan, Letterkenny, Kilkee, Newcastle West, Killarney, Cork city and Dundalk. We make this information available to retailers and farmers so that they can argue in, say, Dundalk, that that wholesaler is charging £2 a ton more than the wholesaler in Cork city. As there is no fixed price, but a bargaining system operates, the Department are trying to provide information for everybody connected with feedingstuffs, whether manufacturers, retailers, or purchasers, about the position throughout the country. These statistics are compiled as carefully as possible by a large number of instructors.
Would the Parliamentary Secretary not agree that when there was a price control on both animal feeds and fertilisers we had not anything like the same variation in prices between different centres?
No.
This booklet will show it.
When a price is fixed, a standard price is charged across the board. That may not always be the minimum price. Representations made—which were similar to those made about the sale of fertilisers—suggested that it would be better if the Department of Industry and Commerce did not fix prices for feedingstuffs but let the competitivness of the market do the job, and the purchasers would be likely to fare better. That view was agreed on all sides of this House and approved by the farming organisations. In the light of such approval it would be out of place for the Government to say: "We are not satisfied with this free bargaining system. We will give you a pricing system which has been laid down by the Department of Industry and Commerce".
Could the Parliamentary Secretary tell me when the withdrawal of price control was approved by this side of the House?
There was no consensus.
Deputies must be brief. We must make progress.
That is a load of cods-wallop.
I understood the Deputy's party agreed to this but if he says they did not I will accept it. So far as the Government and the farming organisations are concerned, we agreed.
(Interruptions.)
Order.
Anyone would express concern if there was a different——
Order. We must make progress.
Anyone would——
Deputy Leonard, the Chair must be obeyed.
I offered to ask a question which is of interest.
If the Deputy is very brief.
Would the Parliamentary Secretary agree that the wide variation in animal feedingstuff prices is also matched by a wide variation in the components which make up these feedingstuffs? Would he not agree that the limited analysis sought by his Department bears no relation to the true nutritional value of the feedingstuffs offered for sale?
The Department are particularly worried about the nutritional value of the components. We want to ensure as far as possible that the customer gets what he demands and pays for. We are concerned on that score. From the information at our disposal we are satisfied that the compounds on sale here throughout the country are up to standard. If any Deputy can submit to the Department——
Arising out of the——
Sorry, Deputy, I am calling the next question. I have asked for brevity.
(Interruptions.)