I move:—
Go ndeontar suim ná raghaidh thar £443,600 chun slánuithe na suime is gá chun íoctha an Mhuirir a thiocfaidh chun bheith iníoctha i rith na bliana dar críoch an 31adh lá de Mhárta, 1937, chun Tuarastail agus Costaisí Oifig an Aire Talmhaíochta agus seirbhísí áirithe atá fé riaradh na hOifige sin, maraon le hIldeontaisí-i-gCabhair.
That a sum not exceeding £443,600 be granted to complete the sum necessary to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1937, for the Salaries and Expenses of the Office of the Minister for Agriculture and of certain services administered by that Office, including sundry Grants-in-Aid.
This year, as compared with last year, there is a net decrease in connection with the Estimate for the Department of Agriculture of £333,060. There are certain increases and certain decreases, and I would like to say a few words on the rather large items that make up these increases and decreases. With regard to sub-head H—Grants to County Committees of Agriculture— there is an increase of £8,595, and this is entirely due to the cost of the distribution of cattle export licences, which has passed into the hands of these committees. Under sub-head OO (2)—Advances to the Dairy Produce (Price Stabilisation) Fund—there is an increase of £20,000. This is due to the fact that it is anticipated there will be a larger export of butter during the first half of the year, and that fund will be overdrawn to the extent of £20,000 more than it was last year. The total amount will be completely paid back before the end of the financial year.
As regards sub-head O (8)—Pigs and Bacon Act, 1935—there is an increase of £10,606. That Act was not in full operation for the whole of last year, but it will be in the coming financial year. Under sub-head O (10)—Agricultural Products (Regulation of Export) Acts, 1933 and 1935—there is an increase of practically £200,000. Last year there was only a token amount of £5, because the export of eggs and butter to the Continent was financed out of funds provided by the Newmarket Dairy Company. It was thought more advisable to finance this completely out of moneys voted by the Dáil, so that the Dáil can see how this trade is being carried on. The total amount will, it is expected, be paid back before the end of the financial year. Sub-head O (12) deals with the Acquisition of Land (Allotments) (Amendment) Act, 1934. There is an increase of about £5,000. Under the legislation passed a few years ago, the allotments scheme has been making progress and it is anticipated a larger amount will be spent during the coming year than during the present year.
There are also decreases, and the first big decrease is under sub-head M (5)—Improvement of the Creamery Industry. This sub-head deals with the purchase of proprietary creameries, the sale of those to co-operative societies; also the purchase of co-operative societies and the reorganisation and resale of those societies. All that will cost £28,000 less than during the present year. Sub-head O (9) deals with the Cereals Acts, and there is a decrease there of £295,000, mainly due to the elimination of the payment of wheat bounties out of voted moneys. Under sub-head O (13)—Slaughter of Cattle and Sheep Acts—there is a decrease of £135,000. Under this sub-head there is an increase under certain headings such as, for instance, the purchase of cattle for canning. There will be an increase there of £37,000. As regards the purchase of old cows, there will be an increase of £110,000. On the other hand, there is a decrease under the heading of beef distribution and the amount of the decrease is £141,000. Then there is a decrease of about £140,000 in the case of the purchase of cattle for export. The net result generally is that under that sub-head there is a decrease of £135,000.
There are a few items also under the Appropriations-in-Aid. As I have mentioned already, the total amount voted under the Dairy Produce (Stabilisation) Fund, £200,000, will be repaid before the end of the year. It is necessary to finance the fund during the early part of the year. There is a big export of butter during April, May and June. A bounty has to be paid on that butter and the levies collected would be very much in arrear until towards the end of the year. As the levies come in towards the winter months, the fund becomes solvent and the amount advanced from the Exchequer can be repaid. Under sub-head O (10)—Agricultural Products (Regulation of Export) Acts, there will be an Appropriation-in-Aid of £200,000, which, as I have already mentioned, is the total of the Vote for trading by the Government in agricultural exports. Under sub-head O (13), there are Appropriations-in-Aid under the Cattle and Sheep Acts of £285,000 in levies, £200,000 for cattle exported, and £25,000 in respect of factory receipts for the cattle sold to the Waterford factory for the purposes of canning and meat extracts. Under sub-head O (8)— Pigs and Bacon Act—there will be a receipt of £16,000.
Now, to go further into the Cattle and Sheep Act, there are orders in preparation at the moment which will make a very substantial difference to the Estimates, as made out here. These Estimates, of course, as the House will understand, must be prepared under the existing legislation. An Order, however, is being prepared, which, if not nullified by the House, will come into operation and will reduce the levy on cattle and sheep under that Act by half. That will make a difference, presumably, of over £140,000 in receipts under that Act, if the Act runs for the full year. There is also an Order being prepared which will increase the price to beef recipients under the scheme by 1d. per lb. At the present time, the butcher who is supplying meat under that Act to recipients is getting 4d. per lb. The butcher gets 2d. of that 4d. from the recipients and gets the other 2d. out of Government funds. Owing to the increase in the price of fat cattle, butchers have made a strong case to the effect that they cannot afford to supply beef, under the scheme, at that price, and I have agreed, in meeting with them some time ago, to increase the price by 1d. per lb. from the 1st April.