I move: "That the Dáil do now adjourn." The House is aware that I received to-day notice from the Leader of the Opposition inviting me to make a statement on the present position regarding tillage. I may assume that members of the House and of the general public need no words from me to bring home to them the gravity of the situation that confronts us all. We have passed the middle of March and we find ourselves in the position that there is, roughly, somewhat in excess of 2,000,000 acres of land to be ploughed if we are to reach the tillage achievement of last year. In any discussion that we have here. I invite members of the House to apply themselves to what we can do, what the Government can do, how the public can assist, and how local authorities can co-operate, in bringing whatever encouragement and assistance it is possible to bring to the agricultural community, to the farmers and farm labourers, in tackling this problem, assuming that, with the help of God, the weather is now about to take up.
There was no public discussion on this matter up to quite recently, and, in a way, I think the idea has been spread that I and the Department of Agriculture, and indeed the Government as a whole, have been neglectful in not treating this position more seriously. Having regard to the weather, to the fact that for the past two months the rain, frost, snow and sleet have been hitting the farmers and those who are working on the land, it would not, to my mind, be much encouragement to have all types of public discussion as to what the farmer could do when he finds himself in the circumstances I have outlined, circumstances of which everyone is aware. In the Department we have been asking ourselves for weeks, in the event of the Almighty God deciding to give us better weather, what we could do, what forces we could release and organise, in order to come to his assistance immediately on the farmer being able to make a start.
When I saw some of the suggestions and the criticisms that made their appearance during the past few days, I asked myself was it stupidity on our part that we could not see that there was lurking there a means by which we could come to the farmer's rescue and so enable him to give us the tillage acreage we require. Recently, I met a number of representatives of county committees of agriculture; I also met a number of farmers; in fact, I met everybody who asked to see me and from whom I thought I could get advice—people whom I thought would have ideas different from my own as to the manner in which this huge problem might be tackled.
I must confess that, as a result of these discussions with men actively engaged in agriculture, I have satisfied myself that it was not stupidity on our part, but that it was clearly a matter of having brought home forcibly to me the severity of the limitations imposed on us all in helping in this crisis.
Everyone knows that before you sow you must plough, and in order to plough you must have tractors, machinery, horses and the men to handle them. In this country we have about 7,000 tractors equipped with all the attachments necessary to cultivate the land. In addition, we have horses and the other agricultural implements that our farmers possess. All these things would have enabled us to handle the tillage problem without any difficulty, but, as the country well knows, the tractors have been idle, the horses have had to remain in their stables and the men have also been idle. We have now to ask ourselves what we can do, in the limited time at our disposal, in order that the fullest use may be made of the machinery and the men available to ensure a good harvest.
In addition to those tractors which I have mentioned, there are also a number of industrial tractors. I am not in a position to say exactly what that number is but some weeks ago instructions were issued to the outdoor staff —tillage inspectors and others in my Department—to go around and to make a census of these tractors, to see where they are, who owns them and the purposes for which they are being used and as well as that to find out to what extent they are suitable for tillage operations. Some weeks ago we also made contact with the Department of Industry and Commerce and we asked them to see to it that kerosene and petrol would be ready at hand in the event of the weather conditions improving, so that there would be no hold-up whatever in this work. We have also asked the tractor owners themselves to put themselves in possession of at least two weeks' supply so that there could be no possible danger of there being any tractors that would not be fully utilised.
As Deputies are also aware, permits were issued to those tractor owners for the months of January, February and March which enabled them to get kerosene that could not be used by them in tractors at that time. We have asked the Department of Industry and Commerce to validate these permits. They are also issuing permits for the month of April at once so that the farmers who are in possession of these machines will be able to get their kerosene not only for the present period but for the months in which they were not able to engage in the work for which these permits were intended.
Complaints were made some time ago as to the attitude of Corás Iompair Éireann in the matter of the transport of agricultural machinery and parts. We have been in contact with that organisation and we have got from them an assurance that these implements and parts will in future get a high priority.
The suggestion has been made to me that a number of private owners of tractors, people who had tractors for their own use and who might not have these tractors fully occupied, should be called upon to make these machines available to their neighbours and to ensure that they would have a much greater output of work than in the normal course they would be called upon to produce. I must say that while I should like to find some means by which effect would be given to that suggestion I leave it to members of the House, if they can think of any way in which the owners of these machines could be induced voluntarily to take that course. I should be very glad to hear of any suggestions in regard to that matter. It seems to me that in this matter we must depend on appealing to those farmers who find themselves in that position, to co-operate to the fullest extent with their neighbours, to assist their neighbours, and, within reason, to make these tractors available for work in addition to that which they will be called on to perform on the owners' farms. That is what we have been doing for some time past in relation to the tractor position.
I cannot think of any other steps we could take in order to make the fullest use of the machinery that is in the country. The way in which we have endeavoured to go about that task is to get into contact with the committees of agriculture. We have asked the committees of agriculture to take up this work of locating machinery and co-ordinating all these efforts inside their area—co-ordinating all the efforts not only of their own staff and our outdoor staff but, as well, the staffs that are being released on the instructions of the Department of Local Government by county councils.
We have asked the secretaries of county committees of agriculture and chief agricultural officers to make themselves responsible for the co-ordination of effort inside their areas so that those industrial tractors to which I have referred will be located, that the owners will be approached and invited to make the tractors available for work on the land. We have asked them to find out where these tractors are most required and, having found out these things, to give effect to our general recommendations. We have also asked that organisation to make itself responsible for the compilation of a register of men who would be technically suited and who possess the technical knowledge that would enable them to drive and manipulate a tractor. We have to be careful of that because many of the private owners who will be asked to hand over their machines for this all-important effort, will naturally want to feel that the men into whose hands they are being put will be men, so far as the supervisory organisation can determine it, to whom these machines can be safely entrusted.
We have given some thought to the fact that even if we had a large number, which unfortunately we have not, of such industrial tractors, they would not be fitted with the necessary equipment to enable them to engage in the tillage drive. We think, seeing that the number is so small and that the season is so advanced, that these tractors could be used by a farmer who might have his own tractor working ploughing while these could be used for sowing. That is, I think, the only purpose to which this particular type of tractor can be applied. I believe that there will be ample work to keep the limited number that will be found to be there fully engaged in other tillage operations, and to Deputies who would ask me how these tractors are to be used, since they are not fully equipped to engage in agricultural work, that is the only reply I can make.
That is the general picture of the instructions we have issued to the secretaries and agricultural officers in the different counties and I want all the officials—our own officials who are engaged on outdoor work and county councils who have agreed to offer their services and to release their casual workers—to realise that it is the chief agricultural officer or secretary of the county committee of agriculture who should co-ordinate all the effort in the different counties, and it is to him that all these other officials should look for guidance and direction as to the way in which the work is to be done and as to the type of work to be undertaken.
It has been suggested to me, too, that some effort should be made to organise local committees in the different towns and villages for the purpose of assisting in this drive. I can only say that the time at our disposal is limited and the time it would take for these officials to go out and undertake that task would be fairly substantial. My advice to all these well-intentioned people and all those in the towns and cities, and especially in the towns and villages, who are anxious to co-operate in this desperate situation, is to form a small committee of their own and notify the chief agricultural officer or secretary of the county committee of what they have done, and that such committee should then proceed to an examination of the problems as they understand them in their own immediate locality and to set about trying to devise some means by which they can be of assistance to the people who will be engaged night and day in working on the land when weather permits.
What can such a committee do? What assistance can such committee give? The extent to which such a committee can offer assistance in the initial stages of this drive, in my view, is in organising in their town or village whatever transport may be available. If a farmer wants to get a load of artificial manure or wants to get some seeds delivered over a distance of two, three, four, five or six miles, they would compile a list of such farmers, from whom they would receive requests as to their requirements and where these requirements were to be obtained, and would organise whatever transport was there so that these manures and seeds might be delivered to the farmer at his home and so to relieve him of the necessity of taking out his horse or tractor on a good day and setting off to the town for them. That is one fairly important contribution which such a committee could make. There may be other ways in which local committees, if brought into existence, could help, but it is for them, with their local knowledge, to discuss these matters. If they can see something which I at the moment cannot see, they would be there to execute whatever plan they might decide upon as another step in the direction of bringing further help to the farmers.
I am dealing now with the ploughing and sowing of the land and I am coming to the planting of the potato crop. In the ploughing of the land and sowing of the seed, of the wheat, oats, barley and beet, I cannot see to what considerable extent other than that to which I have referred, the manpower outside those employed in the industry could be brought to bear on the agricultural problem as it now exists. There might be, when we come to the planting of the potato crop, a further contribution which could be made through good organisation and the provision of the type of labour that was made available during the harvest period, but it would, as I said at the outset, be entirely inaccurate, in my view, to compare the harvest position with the position which exists now. Everyone here, and especially those who are associated with the land, will realise that if on a harvest day, ten, 15, 20 or 30 men present themselves with their hands in their pockets to a farmer in a field, during a good hour or two they can be of enormous value to him, but, faced with the present position, if a farmer is presented with ten, 15 or 20 men, there is very little use he can make of them.
It seems to me that the lengths to which we can go to assist him are confined to the points I have mentioned— so far as the local organisation is concerned, to see to it that it is not necessary for him to leave the field for the purpose of getting his seeds or manures, and in certain areas it might be possible to give him some help in the spreading of manures and the dropping of seed potatoes.
If there are Deputies who have ideas other than, or in addition to those I have mentioned, I shall naturally be very anxious to hear them. I invite, seeing that the weather, I hope, is going to take up, all these people, if they are anxious to take part, as, I am sure, everybody must be, in this campaign, not to wait but to organise their little committees and examine the farmers' problems with their own local knowledge and to bring whatever assistance they can to him within the next five or six weeks.
Undoubtedly there is a number of people in those cities and towns and villages who would be anxious to do everything in their power and who would be prepared to make a substantial sacrifice. I have been wondering if such committees, since they cannot be called upon to the extent to which we would be glad to call upon them, if it were possible, would take it on themselves, as an indication of their appreciation of the dangers to which we are exposed, to hire or rent, say, ten, 12, 15, 20 or whatever number of acres the population of the particular locality would justify and to plant potatoes.
While it might not make any great contribution to the amount of food we require, at least it could be regarded as a very useful gesture on their part if, in the locality, they could collect subscriptions from traders and people who are fairly well off, for the purpose of renting a certain amount of land, on which they could employ whatever surplus labour or free labour that is available. That would be a very useful work especially in view of the fact that we cannot avail of the services that they would be very keen to offer to the farming community. I am merely throwing that out as a suggestion to them. The planting of the potato crop is not the most urgent. It is certainly not the least important. There is ample time during which these committees, if brought into existence, could apply themselves to that task. I say they could not direct their energies to a more useful type of work.
When dealing with that matter, I should like to refer to another aspect of the case, that is, the attitude of certain people towards those plot-holders for whom local authorities, for the past number of years, have made land available for cultivation. Long before the emergency in which we now find ourselves arose, I must confess that I was terribly disappointed because of the attitude of some of those people towards the efforts that were being made on their behalf by the local authorities. I do not think the word "disappointed" accurately expresses my feeling in the matter.
Members of this House are aware that for years past it has been the policy of local authorities to provide plots of ground for the unemployed at a nominal rent, that seeds, implements and spraying materials have been provided free of charge, that all the necessary instruction, co-operation and guidance that could be offered by the officials of my Department have been given to them freely. When members of the House consider the figures for the past few years they will agree that the word "disappointed" is far too mild. I do not understand the mentality that will refuse to take advantage of the facilities given through this scheme. It is well that it should be brought home to those people who are unable to find work and who are being provided with an amount that, having regard to all other matters, is not very large, but which is being provided by the taxpaper and who are being asked to till a plot of ground that is provided for them on the conditions which I have mentioned, that they have displayed indifference as revealed by the figures I have before me.
The number of allotments that were taken up by the unemployed in 1939 was 5,059; in 1940, 8,990; in 1941, 21,387; 1942, 23,512; 1943, 20,181; 1944, 18,028; 1945, 16,088; 1946, 13,855.