§ MR. SHEEHAN (Kerry, E.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether his attention has been called to the correspondence and articles which appeared recently in the Irish Press, alleging that the values of Irish butter are materially reduced owing to the depreciation of the standard of the brands affixed to the butters inspected in Cork Butter Market, which is regulated by the provisions of a recent Act of Parliament; and whether any Government Department in Ireland has the power to hold an inquiry into the matter and to enforce any necessary reforms?
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURI have no official information on the subject of this question. But the Trustees of the Market state that the prices of Cork-branded butter compare as favourably now as ever with the prices obtained for any other butters. So far as I am aware, the reply to the inquiry in the second paragraph is in the negative.