To ask the Minister for Agriculture whether he is aware of a notice which was issued from a meeting of the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union, held at Ballyduff, Co. Waterford, on January 21st, and which appeared in the Waterford newspapers on January 26th, as follows: —"Notice.—That where farms are to be let for grazing, intending purchasers will be required to give an undertaking that they will till at least 20 per cent. of their taking, or, as an alternative, give employment at the rate of two men to every 50 acres. This also applies to farms grazed by the owners, otherwise we, as representing the unemployed agricultural workers, will have to take other measures to save them from immediate starvation, which must soon be their lot if the present system of grazing is allowed to carry on.—For District Committee, J. Foley, Secretary"; and to ask what steps the Government intend to take to protect the legal rights of the citizens if the terms of the said notice are attempted to be put into effect.
CEISTEANNA—QUESTIONS. - GRAZING AND TILLAGE. (ATTITUDE OF I.T. & G.W.U.).
My attention has been drawn to the notice quoted by the Deputy. Compulsory tillage formed the subject of a discussion in the Dáil last September, as a result of which the Government appointed the Committee on Agriculture, which is at present inquiring into the condition of farming generally in An Saorstát, including the place of grazing in our agricultural life. Whatever may be the evils of the grazing system, they must be dealt with by well considered legislation, and the Government will not tolerate for a moment, in any part of the country, irregular action by individuals or groups of individuals who may be seeking to usurp the functions of the representatives of the people in this or any other matter.