asked the Minister for Agriculture if he will state (i) the quota of bacon authorised by the Pigs and Bacon Commission to be supplied by curers to their customers during the current month, and (ii) the quotas similarly authorised for each of the preceding months since 30th November, 1947.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Bacon Quota.
The authorised quota for the current month is 30 per cent. of the monthly average supplied in the year ended 31st March, 1941. The monthly quotas authorised since 30th November, 1947, were: December, 1947, to February, 1948, 40 per cent.; March to May, 1948, 33? per cent.
The decision to fix the current quotas was taken while the deplorable situation in the pork and bacon trade bequeathed to the Government by our predecessors was being tackled and it was then impossible to foresee the remarkable degree of success which was to attend the efforts of the officers of my Department, the Pigs and Bacon Commission and the Gárda Síochána, but if this should be maintained it is intended substantially to increase the quota next month.
Will the Minister, in view of the statement that the supply of legally cured bacon is the lowest on record, cause an inquiry to be made into the sources of the bacon which the Irish Independent tells its readers is more plentiful in the shops than ever before?
It is not necessary for me to cause an inquiry to be made because I am painfully aware that the source of the exiguous supplies of bacon was the gross incompetence of the Minister responsible for maintaining them.
Is the Minister aware that the Irish Independent has published statements, illustrated by photographs, of the plentiful supplies of bacon in the shops and that householders have written to the Irish Independent asking them to detail the shops and the sources of the supplies to them? The Minister has made a statement indicating that the supplies of legally-cured bacon are the lowest on record. The Minister must realise if the Independent statements are true——
The Minister is not answerable for what appears in the newspapers.
I beg of him to go on.
Does the Minister believe that the statements contained in the Irish Independent are true, and, if so, is he not aware that the source of supply must be other than a legal one?
I am well aware that the statements in the Irish Independent are true; I am also well aware that the stated quotas fixed by my predecessor and his servants in office were not filled; I am also well aware that it was attempted to maintain an illusion that supplies were going to the retail shops for distribution which were not going there because the pork that should have been going to the curers to be turned into bacon was, in fact, going to the black market and not to them; the pork is now going to the legitimate market and the 30 per cent. quota at present is a greater supply than the alleged 33? per cent. and 40 per cent. quotas which were stipulated in the days gone by.
In view of the unsatisfactory nature of the Minister's reply I propose to raise the whole of this matter on the adjournment.
Question No. 7.
Neither Deputy Lemass nor Deputy Smith would dare to raise it.
I have never heard such nonsense.
I have heard nonsense but never anything like that.
I will call question No. 8 if no one seems interested in asking No. 7.