asked the Minister for Agriculture why exports of fresh, chilled or frozen beef are down by 9,375 metric tonnes in the latest three-month period for which figures are available, namely, July-September 1978; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - Beef Exports.
166.
While comparisons based on selected short periods can be misleading, the facts are that exports of fresh, chilled and frozen beef in the July-September quarter of 1978 showed an increase of almost 15,000 metric tonnes over the preceding quarter and that exports from January to September 1978 were 17,000 tonnes higher than in the corresponding nine months of 1977 and some 62,000 tonnes higher than in the corresponding period of 1976.