asked the Minister for Agriculture (a) the number of (i) bullocks, (ii) heifers, (iii) cows and (iv) bulls slaughtered in Irish meat plants in 1982; (b) the number, weight and type of beef (i) bullocks, (ii) heifers, (iii) cows and (iv) bulls sold on the domestic market in 1982; (c) the number, weight and type of beef (i) bullocks, (ii) heifers, (iii) cows and (iv) bulls sold into intervention in 1982; the cost of and the total value of all beef put into intervention.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Beef Trade.
7.
Slaughterings at licensed meat export premises in 1982 comprised 556,373 bullocks, 90,073 heifers, 282,669 cows and 7,605 bulls. Particulars of slaughterings for the home market which are collected by the Central Statistics Office are not yet available.
The quantity of beef purchased into intervention in 1982 was 60,500 tonnes valued at £117 million. All of this quantity was steer beef.
8.
asked the Minister for Agriculture the reason he has not sanctioned the sale of extra beef which is equivalent to 50 per cent of the weekly beef heifer kill into intervention; and when he will do so.
The 50 per cent limit on weekly purchases of beef into intervention has been suspended with effect from 4 July and accordingly the question of allowing a credit for heifer slaughterings does not now arise. In any event I would point out that when such a credit was allowed some years ago it did not have the desired effect on heifer prices and was discontinued after a few weeks.
Did the Minister state that the selling of 50 per cent of heifer beef, and an equivalent amount of bullock beef, into intervention was suspended from 4 July — yesterday?
Yes, there is not a percentage limit at present. Only fore quarters and hind quarters go into intervention but there is no quota for fore quarters or hind quarters; they are a quota in themselves as the Deputy will appreciate.
Is it true that 50 per cent of heifer beef has not been sold into intervention for some time? Is it true that Irish farmers have been demanding this for the last five or six months and that the beef management committee in Brussels have agreed to allow in such beef? Is it correct to say that the members of that committee do not understand why the Irish Government have not accepted their allocation of 50 per cent of beef heifer equivalent into intervention for Irish farmers?
The reason behind the exercise was to help the price of heifers. A similar experiment was tried out in 1980 but was discontinued because it did not succeed in raising the price of heifers. What the Deputy is saying in effect is that a factory buying a lot of heifers could inflate its steer quota into intervention. That would be a good idea but when it was tried it did not work. As a matter of interest I should like to tell the Deputy that the net cost of the Exchequer of the 50 per cent limit was in the region of £3 million.
Will the Minister tell the House why the Department of Agriculture have not sanctioned the sale of 50 per cent equivalent of beef heifer into intervention?
There are no proposals in my Department to do that. I imagine it is due to the cost factor to the Exchequer also.
The Minister mentioned a few moments ago that the cost to the Exchequer was £3 million and I should like to know if it is true that the beef management committee in Brussels approved this move and are awaiting acceptance of that sanction from the Minister? Is the Minister aware of the amount of money lost last year by Irish farmers who raised heifers? Is the Minister aware that the financial institutions will not finance such farmers to purchase store heifers in 1983 unless something is done to alleviate the depression in the heifer trade? Is the Minister aware that store heifers are only making between £40 and £42 per cwt. at present? Is it true that the Government are not prepared to take advantage of the opportunities available to Irish farmers by selling this equivalent of extra heifer been into intervention?
This does not arise at present because there are no quotas. In fact, heifers are not bought into intervention. The only way to get around this problem would be by allowing a factory to use some of its kill to boost its steer quota.
The Minister of State has not given the House a concrete reason why the Minister for Agriculture has not accepted this extra allocation. Will the Minister of State tell the House why? It will only cost the Exchequer £3 million and we can purchase it here at 9 per cent or at 14 per cent in Europe.
As I informed the Deputy, when the experiment was tried in 1980 it did not have the desired results. We do not have any proposals to reintroduce this now.
Surely it is ludicrous that the beef management committee in Brussels, the body responsible for regulating the intervention quotas for each member state, have given us this extra allocation but it is not being availed of by us? Will the Minister of State tell us why we cannot avail of it?
The 50 per cent limit on weekly purchases of beef into intervention has been suspended and there is no question of allowing a credit for heifer slaughtering because there is no 50 per cent embargo.
It was suspended yesterday but has not been in operation for six months.