asked the Minister for Agriculture if he is aware of the problems facing beet producers at present; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
13.
Ceisteanna - Questions. Oral Answers. - Beet Producers.
12.
asked the Minister for Agriculture if he will comment on the 1984 beet crop in which producers have no market for their beet; if this is likely to recur; the action he proposes to take in the matter in view of the serious losses involved in the beet crop which was far in excess of required acreage by the Sugar Company; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 12 and 13 together.
Last year was an exceptionally good one for beet production. The Sugar Company processed 1.6 million tonnes of beet, produced under contract with growers for which a record £59 million was paid. On a return per acre basis, this represents a 9 per cent increase on the previous campaign, and consolidates the position of beet as one of our most profitable crops.
In addition to this contract quantity, about 75,000 tonnes of beet not covered by contracts was accepted by the company, the price being based on the return from the world market for the sugar obtained. The price and purchasing arrangements for sugar beet are a matter for the company and the growers. The company, however, cannot be expected to pay the contract price for beet not covered by contracts.
Is the Minister aware of the latest activity of the Revenue Commissioners where they are taking advantage of the 1984 Finance Act which stipulated that a Government agency require a tax clearance certificate for the granting of contracts. That has now been extended to farmers before they are granted contracts by the Sugar Company. I ask the Minister to communicate with the Revenue Commissioners and ask them to stop hounding farmers, many of whom are not even in the tax net.
That is a separate question.
I have not seen any article to that effect and I will not make any comment on the matter until such time as I have an opportunity to see what is in the article in question.
(Limerick West): Is the Minister aware of the practice?
No, I said I had not seen the article. In any event I am not giving any guarantee, even if what the Deputy has said is correct, that I will do anything about it. What the Revenue Commissioners do is really a matter for themselves in that regard.
In his reply the Minister said that beet was one of the most profitable crops. Will he not agree that much of the profit farmers could have earned in 1984 was lost as a result of the surplus beet that was not accepted by the Sugar Company at the various factories? Can he give any indication or guarantee that the farmers who are still committed to the growing of beet will have their produce accepted next autumn when the campaign starts in the various factories? Further, can he give us any indication of the negotiations he proposes to pursue vis-à-vis the various quotas during the forthcoming negotiations?
The Deputy knows that 1984 was an exceptional year. I am sure he also knows we are restricted by the quota system. We have a certain A quota, a certain B quota and a certain C quota but after that it is between the devil and the deep blue sea. I am not going to start talking about who was in office when the quotas were negotiated. We are having a very civilized Question Time. Those quotas come up for renegotiation towards the end of this year but I will not make any prejudgment of the result of the negotiations. We are going to try very hard to change the system. We got quite a reasonable deal on the A quota but I am not happy with the B quota which is very small.
The Minister should make sure that he gets the sums right, that he adds up the figures correctly.
With regard to the question raised by Deputy Treacy, last year was an exceptional year and obviously beet was left over for which there was not much of a market. That is one of the difficulties of the quota system and I can do nothing about that.
Has the Minister any proposals to bring to the negotiating table the matter of the B quota during the forthcoming negotiations?
It does not arise in the present negotiations. I pointed out that the negotiations will take place towards the end of this year when we will try very hard to rearrange the system.
It is a case of "Live horse and you will get grass".
I do not want to go back in history. I might embarrass people in high places and I do not want to do that.