I move:—
That in the opinion of the Seanad the Executive Council should give immediate effect to the recommendation of the Ports and Harbours Tribunal in favour of the erection of a covered cattle market at the North Wall and of a public lairage convenient thereto.
The proposal to remove the cattle market from Prussia Street to the North Wall and to erect there a covered cattle market on most up-to-date lines and a public lairage convenient to the quays is not a new proposition. It has been advocated by responsible representatives of the cattle trade for a number of years. I have on several occasions raised the question both in this House, at meetings of the cattle traders and in the Press. The proposals were always received very sympathetically, but nothing was ever done. On the last occasion, when in 1928 I moved a similar resolution in this House practically on the same lines as the motion we are discussing to-day, the then Minister for Industry and Commerce, Mr. McGilligan, speaking on behalf of the Government, said that the proper place for me to make the case was before the Ports and Harbours Tribunal, and he advised me to do so and I did it. I gave evidence before the Ports and Harbours Tribunal and so did several representatives of the cattle trade, but not a single witness came forward to oppose the scheme. That impartial Tribunal, after considering the evidence given and considering the statements made, which were all made on oath, and after visiting the North Wall and several other places, brought in a report. As many of the Senators have not read it, I propose to read it to them now. On page 130, paragraph 164 of their report they say: "Animals for disposal at the Dublin market are usually sent by rail from country fairs to the Great Southern Railway station at Cabra, near the markets. The stock is then driven direct from the waggons at Cabra to the market or to fields in the vicinity, but in any event the cattle must be walked to the market as there is no direct railway connection. Considerable numbers of animals from the counties adjoining Dublin reach the market on foot. After disposal in the market, the animals for shipment are driven on foot to the pens of one or other of the shipping companies at the port, about two miles away. The distances which animals have to be driven (a) to the market, (b) from the market, and (c) when short shipped from the port pens to grazing, cannot but be detrimental to their condition, especially in the case of cattle already tired after a long railway journey. Moreover, the movement on foot through miles of the city streets of large numbers of live stock causes delay to road traffic generally and frequently results in injury to the animals themselves through accident or ill-treatment. The advantages which will follow the removal of the cattle market to a site near the port and the provision of covered lairages need no emphasising. With the combined lairage and market situated as close as possible to the shipping berths and directly connected with the main railway system, animals could be unloaded direct from the waggons to the covered lairages, where they could be fed and rested. Lairages adjoining the market would enable stock to be transferred from the one to the other in good condition and with the minimum of movement. After sale, the stock for shipment could be retransferred to the lairage to undergo detention and examination.
"The witnesses who appeared before us on behalf of the cattle trade and the Department of Agriculture were in agreement as to the advantages which should attend such a rearrangement of marketing, lairage and shipping accommodation at Dublin. We are fully aware of the great difficulties which must be faced and surmounted before a fresh site nearer the port can be found for the Dublin Cattle Market and for adequate lairage, and we do not propose to express any view upon the respective responsibilities of the City authorities and the Port Board in such a matter. But we do feel that, having regard to the very great importance of the live stock export trade to the country as a whole and having regard further to the position occupied by the Port and City of Dublin in relation to that trade, any proposal which would tend to improve the conditions under which the trade is carried on to facilitate the delivering of live stock in good condition in the cross-Channel markets, and thereby to enhance their value to the home producer, or which would add to the advantages offered by Dublin to buyer and seller is entitled to the closest consideration of the local authorities both of Borough and Harbour. The proposal for a new market and lairage close to the port appears to us to be one for early examination and decision before sites which may now be available are acquired for other purposes. We are satisfied that there is room for improvement, and if the difficulties in the way, financial or other, should not prove insuperable, we feel that the time has come when an effort should be made to provide the most up-to-date facilities at what is not always realised to be the largest live stock exporting centre in Europe."
Dublin is the largest port in the world for the export of live stock. In 1930, 410,171 cattle were shipped from Dublin, while the total number of cattle shipped from the Free State was only 721,441. For the same year the number of sheep shipped from the port of Dublin was 378,086, whilst the total number of sheep exported altotogether was 534,882. The total live stock exports from Dublin for that year amounted to over 900,000, or well over half the total export of live stock from the Free State. In its cash value the live stock exported from Dublin would represent two-thirds of the value of all the live stock exported. This trade, which is of such vital importance to the country, is carried on in what I might describe as a most antiquated and inhuman manner. The cattle trade has been restricted for years in this way, and in view of that report I contend that it is the duty of the Government to give immediate effect to it. More than half the live stock passes through the Port of Dublin and is first in the Dublin market, I believe, and I believe it is the case that a good deal of the damage caused to cattle consigned to cross-Channel ports is caused by the bad marketing conditions in Dublin. In bringing them to the market or from the market to the ship one would be ashamed to consider the facilities that are given for dealing with these cattle. The objection may be made that there is not sufficient accommodation at the North Wall, but we have ascertained that the L.M.S. Railway Company have about 14½ acres, with about five houses. The Dublin traffic manager sent a memorandum to me to be submitted to the Minister for Agriculture with the proposal to allow that area to be used for the lairage of cattle if the Company would get a charter to charge tolls on the cattle entering that market. They would even be prepared to put up a covered market at their own expense. I sent the memorandum to the Minister for Agriculture and told him that the cattle trade would not agree that it should be handed over to any private company for that company's profit, and that finished the proposal so far as the L.M.S. was concerned. There is another site available—the Great Southern Railways Company has about 20 acres of land with very little building on it, which I think they would be glad to give over to us. This would do away with the existing lairages along the quays, which are most unsuitable, and the expense of maintaining them would not be required if their need was supplied by a public lairage. The next question would be a question of financing the market, and a good many objections would come from people who would say that it would cost the ratepayers a lot of money. It would cost the ratepayers no money, because the owners of the cattle would have to pay the toll or a charge for the use of that market, and that would pay the interest and sinking fund of the outlay to build the market and its upkeep. It would do away with the complaint of some of the Dublin ratepayers that they would be mulcted for the benefit of the cattle trade.
There is another reason why I should bring this matter on at the present time. There is a very suitable site which may be acquired later on for an extension of the market in Commons Street, Sheriff Street and that neighbourhood, the houses in which I believe have been condemned by the Corporation. If this area is cleared away and new buildings erected we will not be able to get it, and what we want at the moment is an immediate survey of the place to see what is available and an undertaking that nothing should be done without consulting the cattle trade as to the most suitable sites. The next point I want to raise is the objections and who objected. I understand that there is a Dublin Salesmasters' Association in existence and a number of them objected, but I hold here a document which I will take the liberty of reading and which is a memorial signed by some of the most important members of the Dublin Salesmasters' Association, in which they agree to the proposal. When I read the names, Senator O'Connor will agree that some of them are very important members.