asked the Taoiseach whether in a reply of 7th instant he included turf as a part of increased agricultural production; and, if so, what percentage increase this factor represented.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Turf as Item of Agricultural Production.
5.
The aggregates of agricultural output used in the preparation of the figures given in the reply of 7th instant included the output of turf by the farming community in each of the years involved, but did not include turf produced by commercial enterprises. If turf is excluded from total agricultural output then the changes in the volume of agricultural output in the periods mentioned in the earlier reply are altered somewhat.
On this altered basis it is estimated that in the ten years 1926/27 and 1936/37 the volume of agricultural output increased by 2.8 per cent., between 1936/37 and 1946 there was a decline of 7.2 per cent. while in the ten year period 1946 to 1956 the volume of output increased by 21.7 per cent.
In the ten years between 1942/43 and 1952 there was an increase of 10.5 per cent. in the volume of output, while in the seven years 1952-1959 the increase was 13.9 per cent. Over the whole period 1926/27 to 1959 the volume of agricultural output (excluding turf) rose by 20.3 per cent.