asked the Minister for Agriculture if he will take steps to relieve the disastrous drop in prices of agricultural produce and livestock either by fixing minimum prices or by subsidy.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Prices of Agricultural Produce and Livestock.
28.
Price supports or guarantees have been provided for the great bulk of agricultural output. Store cattle and sheep benefit from the link with the British guaranteed price system. There are guaranteed prices for milk, wheat and beet. Barley and pig prices are supported. These supports together with the subsidy on fertilisers at the production end impose a severe strain on the Exchequer and since a high proportion of farm produce must be exported to competitive markets there is a limit to the extent to which fluctuations in farm prices can be controlled.
Does the Minister not think that the time has come when, if the whole livestock trade is to be saved, some security by way of subsidy or minimum fixed price must be given to stock raisers?
The Minister knows that at no time were prices as low as in 1956 when the Deputy was in office.
Does the Minister know that the subsidies on fertilisers are only an advantage to the rancher farmer in this country and that they are a disadvantage to the small tenant farmer who subsidises the big farmer?
Everyone here knows, of course, that statement is not correct.
Everyone except a fool knows it is correct.