§ MR. FIELDTo ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether, in view of the importations of foreign sugar into Dublin and other Irish ports last year, he will impress on the Department of Agriculture the advisability of experimenting on a large and practical scale to try the feasibility of producing sugar from Irish beet upon a paying basis, seeing that the ratio of saccharine matter in Irish beet exceeds that of German beet, and also that a failure of the beet-sugar operations took place in Germany last year owing to the dry season.
(Answered by Mr. Walter Long.) The Department are satisfied that beet could not be made as remunerative a crop as other root crops now grown in Ireland. They are, therefore, not prepared to carry out an experiment of the nature suggested, which would involve, as a preliminary, the erection and equipment of a factory at a cost of about £60, 000, exclusive, of working capital. The Department have recently prepared a pamphlet setting forth the reasons why the production of beet sugar would not be profitable in Ireland. I have sent a copy of this pamphlet to the hon. Member.