asked the Minister for Agriculture whether his attention has been drawn to the statement by the Minister for Transport and Power on 1st July that the Government were making an immediate active survey of the Common Market potential for agriculture; whether he will give details of this survey, including the date of the start of the survey, the number of persons involved in making it, the exact range of information which is being sought, and the approximate date of the completion of the survey; and whether the results of it will be made available in full to the public.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - EEC: Survey of Potential for Agriculture.
7.
The work of the Committee on Industrial Organisation in the industrial sphere is paralleled in the agricultural sphere by the Committee of Agricultural Organisations and by the Survey Teams and Commodity Study Groups about which the House has already been informed.
Survey Teams have been set up to appraise the efficiency of each of the main agricultural processing industries and to formulate measures of adjustment or adaptation to the conditions likely to be met with, should this country become a member of the European Economic Community. Four teams are at present surveying the bacon, fresh meat, milk and grain-milling industries. Each team, which comprises one or two officers of my Department and an independent economist, works in association with a representative of the industry being surveyed. The first of these teams commenced work in January last.
The Commodity Study Groups which consist of representatives of producers, processors, trading interests, trade unions and the Government Departments concerned are examining the wider aspects of our production and marketing systems for each of the main categories of agricultural products with a view to assessing any changes necessary to bring them into line with the requirements of the Common Market. The first of these groups was set up in December last.
It would not be possible at this stage to give a precise indication as to when the work of these Survey Teams and Study Groups will be completed but the Deputy can rest assured that every effort will be made to complete the studies as expeditiously as possible.
The results of the various studies will be made available to the public in due course.