I welcome the Bill which is framed to guarantee the continuance of the State guarantee for Bord Bainne borrowing. Anent what Deputy Farrelly said, that it is appropriate to compliment An Bord Bainne who have not had to call on their full borrowing authority, the Minister has told us that from the time An Bord Bainne were set up they have not had to call on Government money.
Deputy Farrelly suggested that we should get all of these agencies together. That looks to be a rational suggestion but it should be pointed out that An Bord Bainne are practically unique because they have not been running to the Government for money. Indeed I would be dubious about whether the Government, under EEC regulations, would be allowed to give them money.
I emphasise, with my fellow Opposition Members and Government speakers, how important it is to resist the imposition of what has come to be called the super-levy. I had discussions with the leaders of the co-operatives Deputy Farrelly mentioned in my own area, namely, Bailieborough, Killeshandra and Virginia. Lough Egish, Monaghan, are also in my constituency. They are convinced — they do not say this for propaganda reasons — that the industry would be beheaded by the imposition of this levy in its original form or in any modified form. I should like the Minister of State to confirm that the average gallonage in Europe is 1,050 or 1,075. Deputy Farrelly said it was 1,300 but I do not think it is that high. In my area there is an average gallonage of 800. We had been making progress towards achieving the European level of production. Not only would this movement be stopped in its tracks but the production we had was to be cut back.
In general the Minister for Agriculture understands the importance of the super-levy. I would not be surprised if the Government or his colleagues were not as convinced nor am I sure that other people in Government have exercised the muscle they had at the various councils to try to fight this at European level. It does not merely affect agriculture. The Taoiseach has a responsibility as Taoiseach. The Minister for Labour is also seriously involved from the point of view of employment arising directly from the milk industry. The Ministers for Industry, Trade, Commerce and Tourism are equally involved. For that reason it is undesirable that Ministers should fight their own corner and leave the Minister for Agriculture on his own to fight this very serious attempt to curb production.
I cannot help thinking that the new standards imposed for skimmed milk powder is another European device to cut production. They demand less moisture and less acidity. Have the Commission in the past marketed skimmed milk powder with a good conscience when it contained too much moisture and acidity? Will they tell the people who are asked to purchase the skimmed milk powder which is stock-piled in intervention that there is too much moisture and acidity in it? It smells to me of sophistry. It seems to be a gimmick to cut down on production.
Commentators on the milk scene have stressed time and again the importance of research and development. It is a truism that research and development in all facets of industry and of agriculture are of paramount importance. Today I was speaking to someone who told me there may be some difficulties in marketing but one of the successes of the marriage of the results of research and development in the dairy industry has been the cheese which was developed for export to Greece, Crete and the Middle East. The Dairy Science Faculty in University College, Cork, was asked to examine chemically and bacterically the cheese that sold well in that market. They did an excellent job. They linked up with the co-operative that produced the cheese. I was very pleased to see in the huge cruciform market in Kania Irish cheese on sale with a Greek label. I understand there may be some marketing difficulties in this regard. Here we had market research and scientific application. Close attention was paid to what the customer wanted to buy. All the information was used in the creamery to produce this cheese. I could not buy any of the cheese in Greece because they would only sell a huge cartwheel of it. When I came home I had an opportunity to taste it. It is not exactly our taste in cheese but — this may sound like a commercial — it is well worth tasting. I mention that because it is an example of how scientific research can be applied and market research and production interwoven to produce something worthwhile. I discussed it afterwards with our Ambassador in Athens. It is important to realise that, if there is an argument about importation now that Greece is a member of the EEC, we contribute substantially to the Greek economy. Thousands of people go on holiday to Greece. We have a quid for their drachma.
In guaranteeing the loans for Bord Bainne, due to the peculiar system we have we are also involved in beef production. For that reason Deputy Farrelly was relevant when he discussed the processing of our agricultural produce and how important it was for the future. Thanks to a man who at the time did not know the business end of a cow from the other end, Mr. Tony O'Reilly, we had a remarkable success in marketing Kerrygold butter. It is a household name in many areas. Along the coast of the Mediterranean and in the Canaries one can get salted or unsalted Kerrygold butter but one will look in vain for tins of beef from this country. We produce great meat. We kill early. I remember a former head of Siemens-Schukert, the electrical engineering firm, telling me we did not know how lucky we were to have the meat we have. He told me that when he came out of his office he could buy a steak, take it home and cook it in less than ten minutes. He said he would have to beat the meat in Germany around the kitchen before he could do that. Why we cannot process our excellent beef and lamb and sell it as the Germans, the Dutch, the Danes and the French do, I do not know. If one searches on a supermarket shelf in any of these countries where tourists have been crowding for the past number of years, one will look in vain for an Irish product so that Deputy Farrelly was touching on something that I feel very strongly about. I shall not continue on that line since it is specifically the Bord Báinne guarantee we are dealing with here but the area I am talking of is one that requires research and development and hard application on the ground. I hope that we will see more action in that regard in the future.
If we take forestry, for instance, something I regard as one of the school heresys, we find that there is no processing of our timber but likewise there are serious questions in the whole area of the processing of food. Erin Foods made an effort in this direction but were not successful. However, that is another story. So far as diversification is concerned, the people involved in dairying have addressed themselves to this question. If manufacturing industry had achieved the percentage increase in production that our farmers have achieved we would read about it in every magazine and newspaper. This House should be prepared to commend our farmers on the magnificent increase in production they have achieved in a very short period. I might add that in a recent assessment of productivity my area came second to south-west Cork. Farmers in general have shown the way in increased production and they have done so to an extent that we have not commended them properly for.
In my constituency Virginia Milk Products are involved in the production of Bailey's Irish Cream. I do not have an up-to-date statistic but I understand that approximately 35 million gallons of milk are processed for that production alone. It has been a wonderful commercial success. Developing also under the aegis of the Bailieborough Co-Operative is Emmets Liquor Cream. A large extension has been made to the factory there and exports of the cream are very high. These are not the only cream liqueurs on the market but they are the only ones I intend mentioning since they are produced in my constituency.
All the prestigious journals in the world —Paris-March, Der Stern, Time and so on — are carrying advertisements for those creams and in particular for Bailey's which was the first on the market. It is very important for our dairying industry that we have that kind of demand for those products in so many countries. This is the most successful diversification of products in recent years. The quality is rated very highly so one hopes that the standard will be maintained. I know that it will be maintained in the case of the two I have mentioned and I have no reason for not believing that the other people involved in the same type of product will not also maintain these standards. However, as is the case sometimes with Hollywood film successes, three or four versions are made subsequently, one worse than the other and all spoiling the original worthwhile production. This sort of situation has developed in relation to the export of lamb and so on. Marketing and market research are very important in terms of the export of any product.
A number of people have mentioned New Zealand exports. Long before this question became so acute, I had the opportunity of talking for a long time with the Minister for Agriculture in New Zealand. He could not see any logic in our position on the question of imports from that country. Anyone who has examined the Articles of the Treaty of Rome will realise that long ago UK imports of New Zealand butter should have been stopped. That is the iron logic of the Treaty of Rome. Admittedly when bargains are being made many factors have to be taken into consideration and the UK has a market in New Zealand for some of its products. Consequently, the UK is gaining something apart from the old Commonwealth idea. Sometimes in the market place the whole grá-mo-chroí attitude dies a sudden death but in this case Britain gains considerably from its importation by having a market in New Zealand for its own products. An ex parte advantage to one member of the Community is a situation which is not desirable. As of now the importation to the UK of New Zealand butter and lamb is affecting us very badly. Even pro tem we should say that there should be some advantage not only to one member state but to others, particularly the weakest, in any such situation.
We on this side of the House are adopting a very strong position with regard to imports from New Zealand. I understood — and the Minister may correct me if I am wrong — that the late seventies were to be the deadline for permission to import from New Zealand but the UK with New Zealand have succeeded in having that deadline extended. For one reason or another the EEC collectively have not invoked the guillotine. However, they intend doing so in respect of this country and in terms of an industry that is vital to our economy. I refer to the super-levy. Therefore, there are double standards being applied: the letter of the Treaty of Rome is adhered to in some instances but not in others. In this case we should fight to the death rather than have the super-levy imposed on us. We have strong moral grounds for doing so.
To buttress that I wish to refer to the section 84 ban which is envisaged as costing producers a half penny per gallon on milk. Together with the intervention delay which will cost them 2p per gallon, and the various levies which will cost them 5p per gallon, one is talking of 8p per gallon and that would be a very serious situation.
In my area there is constant talk in the context of another but allied fear, that is, the question of the MCA's. There is a whole area that needs revolutionary action in so far as monetary systems are concerned. I have spoken already in another place and in this House, too, about the unsatisfactory state of international exchange. I will not go into that now. The UK did not join the EMS but I think that was a great mistake on their part and it was detrimental also to the EMS as a whole. I will not go further than that. It is imperative that order be brought into the monetary system with regard to the marketing of all produce but particularly the produce of the dairying industry.
There were arguments by some of those who were importing cereal substitutes in Europe — speakers from both sides of the House mentioned this as the big problem in relation to factory farms — that they were buying cereal substitutes at least in part from under-developed Third World countries. That was specifically in relation to one cereal substitute. Subject to substantive denial, I say that the people who were advancing the argument that they were helping poorer, Third World countries by these imports were involved in the big business of producing cereal substitutes and importing them. I do not want to expand further on that but there is a slight immorality in that if that is the case.
The Minister also has a problem directly related to the milk industry with regard to calf premiums. There is a proposal to abolish them but as far as we are concerned that will have to be fought with persistence.
Some time ago The Economist made a survey of the butter industry. They were not talking about commercial butter purchase and usage but they indicated that if one day's consumption of butter in the ten countries of the EEC were destroyed by fire the total butter mountain would disappear. I do not know if this is true now but when The Economist made the survey some time ago that was the case. The butter mountain cannot be all that big even now. The question of factory farming and cereal substitute imports will have to be hammered out at EEC level. In the proposal there was a 4½ per cent impost on large factory farms but that is not sufficient for our purposes.
With regard to the farm modernisation scheme, the Minister made a grave mistake on 9 February when he decided to suspend the scheme. In the context of my constituency, farm modernisation means modernisation for dairy production and that is relevant to the Bill before the House. People, including myself, have referred in this House to what I regard as the immorality of that decision on 9 February. It was an immoral action on the part of the Minister to cancel that scheme without warning. Throughout the country many farmers, particularly small farmers who were ambitious to improve their holdings and the production and the quality of their farms, had been working on schemes under the guidance of agricultural advisers throughout the winter of 1982 and up to the time the Minister spoke about the scheme. They were convinced that the scheme would continue and they accepted the advice of the agents of the Minister. I put it to the House that if those people came together, instructed counsel and sued the Minister, because his instructors and advisers were acting as his agent, they would win a case in any court. I would advocate and advise them to do so. Farmers expended considerable sums on the small dairy farms in County Cavan on the advice of instructors. They did not know the Minister was going to pull the carpet from under the feet of the instructors. The Minister and his Ministers of State should face up to this. If they do not I hope the farmers will join together, take a case to court and see to it that they are paid for schemes upon which they had embarked under the guidance of agricultural advisers. I do not think any judge could hold otherwise than that the advisers were acting as agents for the Minister.
I am glad the Town of Monaghan Co-operative announced recently a scheme for the production of yoghourt and various flavoured milks. In the context of a small town this will provide substantial employment in the future. For a while I had great hopes butter oil would be a profitable substitute for butter. The Minister and his Minister of State, our spokesman for agriculture and I have mentioned that diversification is important. However, from consultation with managers of co-operatives I am afraid that butter oil, which held out such great prospects, is not now so regarded. We had a market in Mexico but the Mexicans had serious financial problems in the recent past and that may be one reason why the market that was established there has died. Another reason may be what the Minister referred to in his opening speech, namely, that the United States is under-cutting dairy products in Mexico and in other places. That is a problem that has to be faced but it is one about which we can do little on a national level.
Deputy Walsh mentioned the importance for the dairying industry of promoting early calving and he gave the House some statistics. He mentioned the figure of 25 per cent on 1 April and if one could bring that back to 1 February it would mean substantial gains for the dairying industry. We can rely on the agricultural advisory service — both that for which the Minister is responsible and the very important educational service being provided by individual co-operatives — to concentrate on this matter. However, it all hinges on not being shackled or inhibited by this crazy idea of blocking development in the most under-developed dairying area in the EEC.
I would like to say a word of praise for the agricultural advisory and educational service. Nowadays it has become almost a tradition to knock various professions, to be cynical about large fees for court appearances and so on, but I do not think anybody could criticise the commitment, the almost missionary zeal, of the majority of those involved in agricultural education almost since the war. It would be to our advantage if we could find out who instilled this into them because it is the purest form of practical patriotism and the results on the ground have been remarkable, particularly with regard to increased productivity.
In my area special newsletters are sent out by the agricultural advisers to the co-operatives, and I am sure it is the same in other areas. The gradual spread of ideas by this means has incalculable benefit for the farming community. The fact that these advisers make themselves personally available to the farmer to give advice so that the written word in the education sheet is matched to the personality of the person who produces it is one of the great efforts in education. They are doing for agriculture almost the same as the múinteoirí taistil did for the Irish language at the beginning of this century, and they show the same kind of commitment and love of their job.
Mention has been made in this debate of assessing milk not merely for its butter fat content but for its protein and lactose content. Many years ago I put down a question to the then Minister for Agriculture, Mr. Clinton, about the possibility of assessing protein for the payment of farmers. He was very sharp with me; it was not his usual form. He more or less indicated that he knew nothing about protein and neither did I. I do not think that was a fair remark and I said so to him. He was a fair-minded man. I see that now payment for protein content is under way in some areas, in some progressive co-operatives. The idea that people should be paid on gallonage alone is one I would be a little chary of because it would take the concentration away from the production of quality milk and that might be dangerous.
I am glad people have interested themselves in the IDA's role with regard to milk and milk products. I cannot understand how this did not happen long ago. Over the years the IDA have garnered considerable expertise. Because our agricultural industry is so important and we have the raw material for the development of processed food, the IDA should be encouraged to take action as soon as possible.
Some time ago I was asked by the then Minister for Agriculture to speak at a Bord Bainne function honouring some of the founder members. I made a reference to the butter and health link. In an increasingly urbanised society this has caused people to be scared of butter. The simple fact is that people who take enough exercise or who work physically very hard have nothing to fear from a love of butter. It is in the sedentary occupations that experts say damage may be done, but there is a very easy remedy. People should be encouraged to develop physical fitness and at the same time use the natural food of the country. The marketing people have missed an opportunity of linking healthy wholesome butter to the campaign under way in most countries for more physical exercise and fitness. This would in some way counteract a certain amount of propaganda of dubious merit from the manufacturers of butter substitutes who have been praising their own products with regard to calories, fitness, health and so on.
There is serious worry about farm modernisation which in my area is a dairying problem because the whole area is committed to dairying. I would like to reiterate what our spokesman, Deputy Noonan, said with regard to the fight re the super-levy, calf premiums and so on. We totally support him. We are critical that the Minister has not gone in fighting as hard as we think he should have. I am dubious about the support he gets in Government and I have mentioned specific Ministers who have a direct involvement in this. I mentioned Labour, because there is a high employment content here, and Trade, Commerce and Industry. We are appealing to the Government collectively and individually to hammer this point home as far as the as not yet fully developed dairy industry here is concerned. When we reach the level of development of other members of the EEC, we will not be making any béal bocht.
I want to reiterate the importance this House should attach to the information that Bord Bainne did not have to call on the Government for any money and to voice our admiration for them and hope that will continue because there has been a tendency to do what the Americans call the laid back act, that is, have the Government pick up the chit later and the company does not have to make any effort. Bord Bainne and the dairying industry deserve our praise in this regard.
I am in full support of this Bill. I hope that the points made in the course of this debate will be taken in the right spirit by the Minister as an indication of how committed all sides of the House are to the potentiality for development in the dairying industry remaining with us.
