asked the Minister for Agriculture if it is intended to establish a potato marketing organisation in the country.
8.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Potato Industry.
7.
asked the Minister for Agriculture if he has any proposals to set up a controlling body to deal with any or all aspects of the potato industry and if he agrees that action is urgently needed if glut/scarcity cycles are to be avoided.
With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 7 and 8 together.
I would refer the Deputies to the reply I gave on 8 November last, in which I indicated that it would not be prudent to decide on national arrangements until we knew the final form of the common organisation of the Community, potato market, which has been under consideration for some time.
Appreciable progress on the European Commission's proposals for the potato market has been made since then. The matter was, in fact, considered by the Council of Ministers at their last meeting and will be further considered at their next meeting on 8 May. It is hoped that firm guidelines on the few remaining issues will soon emerge.
The main purpose of the proposals is to help to stabilise the Community potato market. I would, however, point out that even the existence of elaborate potato marketing organisations in other countries has not prevented gluts and scarcities there.
I fully agree with the Minister that scarcities may be part and parcel of this industry. What I am trying to get from him is whether—in view of the declining profitability of one element more than others, that is the seed trade, wherein it can now be visualised that we will be importing seed in the not too distant future at the rate we are going—he can get together not just a marketing body but a controlling body to be representative of all the interests, that is the users, the processors, the domestic market, and home and seed export market, all or any of these including the alcohol factory which was first erected to dispose of surpluses and the sugar company. Would it not be prudent if not absolutely essential that we should have a body who would be representative of all those various interests with a view to trying to regulate and control the growing, supply and disposal on a spread-out basis rather than this thing of seed at £45 a ton last November and taking £650 an acre to grow and we would be lucky to get seven tons to the acre——
A question, Deputy.
——and then you find potatoes at £250 later on. This situation must eventually knock the bottom out of our entire potato industry——
A question.
——outside or inside the EEC. That is why I am asking for a controlling body rather than a marketing body.
As I have already said, it will be possible to see our way further when the final decisions have been made by the Council of Ministers, which I imagine will be in the near future.
Would the Minister agree that his party promised in their election manifesto to introduce a potato marketing board?
Yes.
No reference was made to the EEC at that stage in the manifesto, and that has not been done.
If the good sense of waiting until the Community have settled their potato arrangements and the organisation of the potato market before we arrange ours has not struck the Deputy it must have struck everybody else in the country. It is obvious that it would be very ill-advised for our Government to go ahead with their own organisation regardless of what developments might take place in the EEC.
Would the Minister agree that the precedent of the British who have been able to maintain their milk marketing board indicates that a country which gets in and does something and then goes to the EEC saying, "Look, we have done it, now let us keep it" is in a much stronger position than a country which waits until the EEC decide what should be done before it does anything at all?
Question No. 9. This is argument.
What is the similarity between a long-established British milk marketing board and the proposed establishment here of a potato marketing board?
They are both marketing boards and the Minister's party promised a marketing board. They did not mention the EEC in their manifesto and they have not done what they promised.
It is obvious that we cannot discuss this fully at Question Time. I give notice that I wish to raise this matter on the Adjournment.
I will communicate with Deputy Blaney. Has he any preference for either of the two matters?
I will take either. I will have a few more before the day is out.
It will all provide material for the election campaign in Donegal.
I have been campaigning on this before the Minister was even heard of.
The Deputy has not got on very well.