Only that I do not want to bore the Seanad I would like to give them a little history about the rabbit question, and of what happened during the war. As the war developed, in Great Britain, which was the export market for rabbits, they set up organisations to deal with imports there. In 1941, an association called A.D.P.A.R., the initial letters of the wholesale distributors of poultry and rabbits, was set up in England and they declined to accept rabbits from individual exporters in this country and asked to have a central organisation set up here to do the exporting. Previously we had an organisation here known as Eggsports, Limited, who were dealing with the export of poultry and eggs and they undertook the export of rabbits also then. The price was fixed at a fairly good figure, much higher than was paid for rabbits pre-war, and the only condition laid down was that the rabbits would have to be sent over in good condition. Eggsports, Limited, who were doing the exporting of rabbits, found it extremely difficult to get rabbits out in good condition in summer months and in 1942, they asked me to make an Order. In the previous year, 1941, we went on with our exports and although they were big in that year only 10 per cent. of the amount sent out for the whole year went out during the five months May, June, July, August and September. Rabbit exports had been extremely high in that year, higher than they have been since and I mentioned the figure of 10 per cent. to show that there was no big natural export during those months.
In the following year they asked to have no exports sent out during May, June, July and August and that was done. In 1943 they asked to have September added; in 1944 it was the same, and in 1945 they asked to have April added. In fact, last year and this year again there was practically no export of rabbits between the end of March and the end of October, except in a few days. That is the position as regards the making of the Order prohibiting the export of rabbits during a certain period. I hear it said that there is a lot of rabbits in the country. There is no means of taking a census of rabbits, but if you take the export figures you will find that in 1941 the export was 229,000 cwts. and that the figure reduced every year until 1942, when it was 72,000 cwts. I take it that was an indication that the number of rabbits was getting less, but I have heard it being argued this year that the number of rabbits has increased in the country and that they seem to be very active. That may be so, but, on the whole, I think the number of rabbits must be somewhat less in recent years. The reason for this prohibition on the export of rabbits during a certain period was that we probably would have had a prohibition on the other side if we had not it here because it had been laid down as a condition that the rabbits should be sent out in good order.
I was in one of the rabbit packing stores before the Order was made. I heard Senators talk about having visited the bogs and that they were interested in what they saw, but I can tell them that if I took them down to the packing station for rabbits they would reject Senator Counihan's motion with ignominy, because they would not stand for rabbits going out from this country in the summer months when they were in such bad condition. Senator Counihan mentioned that we were paying a subsidy on rabbits before the war. We were, and the reason was that you will not get men to trap rabbits unless they get a good price, and if you do not get the rabbits trapped they will not be destroyed. Therefore, we must see that the price is good and we can only keep it good by sending out the rabbits in good condition. Rabbits will not go out in good condition in the summer, but only in the winter, and unless we keep up a good price the fact remains that the trappers will not work.
