asked the Minister for Agriculture if he will state the quantities of oats and oatmeal imported into this country during each month of the present year.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Oats and Oatmeal Imports.
asked the Minister for Agriculture if he will state the quantities of oats and oat products imported during each of the months, August, September and October, 1948, and the prices paid, under the respective headings, in each case.
With your permission, a Chinn Chomhairle, I propose to take Nos. 33 and 34 together.
The only imports of oats were 36 tons of pedigree seed.
The following are the quantities of oatmeal imported during the current year:—
|
January, 1948 |
Nil |
|
February, 1948 |
618 cwts. |
|
March, 1948 |
55,809 ,, |
|
April, 1948 |
58,705 ,, |
|
May, 1948 |
14,917 ,, |
|
June, 1948 |
5,599 ,, |
|
July, 1948 |
5,382 ,, |
|
August, 1948 |
24,348 ,, |
|
September, 1948 |
7,415 ,, |
|
October, 1948 |
Nil |
The c.i.f. cost of the oatmeal imported in August-September, 1948, was as follows:—
|
Total Value |
Cost per cwt. |
|||
|
£ |
£ |
s. |
d. |
|
|
August, 1948 |
53,027 |
2 |
3 |
7 |
|
September, 1948 |
15,312 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
Can the Minister state when the order for this oatmeal was placed?
The decision to import oatmeal was taken in November, 1947, and the import licences covering the quantity were issued between the 14th November, 1947, and March, 1948, by which time the total quantity had been purchased. Deliveries were taking place throughout the year.
Would the Minister state what effect the purchase of this oatmeal is having on storage facilities in the City of Dublin and elsewhere?
Of course, the natural result of having oatmeal in stores is that it is taking a certain amount of storage.
Would the Minister state what effect this purchase of oatmeal has on the price that is being paid to producers of oats?
The effect which this quantity of oatmeal is having on the price of oats is that as long as the millers have the oatmeal on hands in large quantities they are not going into the market to buy, and the absence of buying by the millers has, in my opinion, a depressing effect on the market.
Would the quantity of oatmeal mentioned by the Minister represent 1 per cent. of the quantity of oatmeal in the country, and would the Minister state how people had this year's oats last April?
Because they had last year's oats.
Stop making a game of this.
The Deputy knows that the quantity of oatmeal sold annually is 80,000 tons.
I know that there was a scarcity of oatmeal in the first half of this year.
Half of that quantity, about 40,000 tons, was consumed in the main by racehorses in this country and the other half, 40,000 tons, was consumed in the main by human beings as oatmeal. If we have 13,000 tons less of oatmeal, so much less of 40,000 tons is bought as oatmeal.
I take it that the purpose of these questions is to suggest that oatmeal purchased was unnecessary. Is it not a fact that at the time it was purchased, there was no oatmeal in the country and no prospect of buying oats to make oatmeal?
Put it to your colleague, Deputy Derrig, who put down these questions.
A certain amount of oats was held in reserve by the millers and was released on the market in April or May or June or July.
It was the maize that did the damage.