Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 21 Mar 1979

Vol. 313 No. 1

Written Answers. - Agricultural Statistics.

232.

Mr. Bruton

asked the Taoiseach if he will indicate each category of statistics gathered by the Central Statistics Office in relation to agriculture in Ireland, if he receives any annual requests for statistical information on agriculture from the EEC, OECD or the FAO with which he has so far been unable to comply; if so, if he will give details, and if he has any proposals to alter the type or method of collection of statistics in relation to agriculture.

The Taoiseach

The following statement sets out the principal categories and sources of the statistics relating to agriculture which are collected by the Central Statistics Office:

Category	Source
A. Livestock numbers, crop acreages, etc:
Numbers of livestock (cattle, sheep, pigs horses and poultry by category)	Annual June Enumeration Annual December Enumerations
	Annual April and August Enumerations (pigs only)
Area under crops and distribution of land	Annual June Enumeration
Number of males engaged in farm work	Annual June Enumeration
Agricultural machinery and implements and	Annual June Enumeration
other items of special interest (e.g. turf)

B. Slaughterings:
Slaughterings for domestic consumption (cat- tle, sheep, pigs) — monthly	Quarterly and annual inquiries to Local Authorities
Slaughterings at bacon factories — weekly and monthly	Bacon factories — weekly and monthly in- quiries
Pigs slaughtered on farms for own- consumption — annual	Annual December Enumeration
Numbers, deadweight and value of cattle and sheep slaughtered for export - monthly and annual	Meat exporting factories — quarterly and annual inquiries
C. Purchases of crops:
Quantity and value of barley purchased for malting, brewing and distilling — annual	Maltsters, Brewers and Distillers
Quantity and value of sugar beet — annual	Comhlucht Siuicre Éireann Teo.
Quantity and value of vegetables for proces- sing — annual	Processing concerns (e.g. Erin Foods)
D. Production of milk and dairy products:
Intake and butterfat content of milk purchased by creameries and pasteurisers — monthly	Creameries, Pasteurisers and other manufac- turers of dairy products
Production of butter and skimmed milk powder — weekly and monthly	Creameries and other manufacturing con- cerns
Production of cream, cheese, whole milk powders, chocolate crumb, etc. — monthly	Creameries and other manufacturing con- cerns
Production and sale of farmer's butter — annual	Annual December Enumeration
E. Crop yields:
Yields of cereals, root crops, hay and silage — annual	Sample of farms (in co-operation with the Department of Agriculture)
F. Agricultural Prices:
Prices of cattle, sheep, pigs, milk, cereals, potatoes and other crops — monthly selling prices	Livestock marts, markets, creameries, millers, etc.
Prices of feeding stuffs, fertilisers, seeds and other agricultural inputs — monthly and annual retail purchasing prices	Merchants, feed compounders and other sellers of agricultural inputs
G. Earnings of Agricultural Workers:
Survey of the earnings of permanent	Incorporated in the Annual December
agricultural workers — annual	Enumeration and supplemented by additional
	postal returns

Numerous and very detailed requests for monthly, quarterly and annual statistical information are received from the EEC, the OECD and FAO. It will be appreciated, however, that since the questionnaires are directed to all member countries of the international bodies in question not all the details requested are necessarily relevant or significant for each country. To date it has been possible to comply reasonably fully with annual requests from the international organisations specified.

Presently there are no proposals to fundamentally alter the type or method of collection of statistics relating to agriculture. It should be noted, however, that the on-going process of collecting statistics is constantly under review and the categories of data collected are frequently modified to meet new and changing demands. In particular certain inquiries were initiated in recent years to comply with requests for new data e.g. the April and August Enumerations were initiated in 1973 to comply with an EEC Directive on pig stocks on farms. Changes have been introduced also in the annual June and December Enumerations to meet other EEC needs, for example, additional data were collected in the 1975 and 1977 June Enumerations to comply with the requirements of the 1975 and 1977 EEC Agricultural Structural Surveys.