The insertion of the amendment does not make it mandatory on the Minister to make these regulations immediately. It is to give him power to make such regulations. I would hope that they would be made at an early stage. The purpose of the Bill is to ensure that the quality of the butter, which is the main export, that is creamery butter, shall attain a certain standard in the British market, and that it shall be reliable by virtue of the name. The chief argument in favour of the Bill is, that it will enable the quality of Irish creamery butter to meet the Danish and New Zealand butter in the British market. That is to say, that its keeping quality and its regular quality will be somewhat maintained. The effect upon creameries which, assuming these regulations were made, do not then put in the pasteurising plant, would be that they would not any longer be allowed to send their butter as creamery butter. That is, in fact, the ultimate result of the adoption of this and their refusal to adopt pasteurising methods in those creameries.
Is there any great harm done? Those creameries may suffer somewhat if they send their butter for sale by commission agents, and simply try to make a market on the name " Irish Creamery Butter." If they are trying to command a price because it is sold as Irish creamery butter, then they are taking advantage of the character created by the pasteurised butter. They are obtaining money by, shall I say, false pretences. They are obtaining it because of the more efficient methods of their competitors. In so far as their butter is lower in quality than their competitors, the general name of Irish creamery butter is thereby lowered in the market. So that, quite apart from the question of the national brand, which will have to be discussed later, the term " Irish Creamery Butter " should have a certain marketable value. If you are allowed to send into the market under that name pasteurised butter and unpasteurised butter, you are decreasing the market value of creamery butter. Consequently, I stand by the proposal of the Minister, that he should have power to make these regulations, and I will express the hope that he will make them at an early date, perhaps late enough to give the creameries that have not yet pasteurising plants an opportunity to prepare, but that it should be quite clearly understood that in the near future no butter shall go out of Ireland under the name " creamery " unless it has been pasteurised.