asked the Minister for Agriculture why the EEC cheap beef scheme for aged persons is not in operation in this country; why the scheme cannot be administered here on the same lines as it is in Britain; and why the senior citizens of this country are to be denied the benefits of 80,000 tonnes of beef to be sold cheaply.
Written Answers . - EEC Cheap Beef Scheme .
157.
: The scheme to which the Deputy refers is one under which stocks of intervention beef may be sold at reduced prices to certain institutions and bodies of a social character such as hospitals, orphanages and so on. This scheme was first introduced by the EEC in 1974 but was not availed of here. There have been no requests from institutions here for this beef and its introduction would involve dislocation of existing commercial arrangements for supplies of beef to the institutions concerned.
There has been no EEC scheme in recent years for the subsidising of beef for social welfare classes.