asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries if he will reconsider the decision that only two-thirds of the value of wheat tendered to mills in the coming harvest will be paid, until the amount of levy has been worked out; and if, instead, the amount of levy payable will be estimated as in previous years.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Wheat Levy.
22.
The wheat pricing arrangements for the coming season which have already been announced provide for the payment for millable and potentially millable wheat in two stages—a payment on account of two-thirds of the total amount due at time of delivery and a final payment from which will be deducted any levy necessary to cover the cost of disposal of any surplus over the milling requirement. This is the only system which will enable an accurate calculation of levy to be made. I am not prepared to alter this arrangement.
Can the Minister say why it is necessary to hold back so much?
The first thing that should be understood is that the anticipated time of hold-back should not exceed, give or take a week, six weeks from the date of payment in the first instance. If we were to take a lesser percentage and then found that by reason of an extraordinarily good harvest of millable wheat we had not enough held back, we would be in the same undesirable position as we were in before.