§ 24. Sir ROBERT GOWERasked the Minister of Agriculture if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the imports of eggs from foreign countries increased from 2,362,000 great hundreds in the first three months of 1932 to 2,869,000 great hundreds in the first three months of the present year, while the imports from Empire countries decreased from 1,276,000 great hundreds to 1,115,000 great hundreds; and what steps he proposes to take to protect the home and Empire poultry-farming industries, in addition to the limitation of imports from and after 15th March?
§ Mr. ORMSBY-GOREBetween 1930 and 1933, imports of eggs from foreign countries decreased by 40 per cent. while the home production has shown a considerable increase. There was, however, an increase in imports from foreign countries in the first quarter of this year as compared with the same quarter of last year, which was due to the larger imports in January and February. Foreign Governments and the Government of the Irish Free State were therefore asked to limit their exports to this market as from 15th March. The question of further steps to regulate imports will be considered in the light of the Report of the Reorganisation Commission.
§ Determinations by the West Riding Public Assistance Authority on applications for transitional payments submitted during the under mentioned periods.
| Period. | Total number of determinations. | Allowed at maximum benefit rates | Allowed at lower rates. | Needs of applicants held not to justify payment. |
| Per cent. | Per cent. | Per cent. | ||
| 12th November, 1931–23rd January, 1932.* | 79,446 | 64.5 | 23.6 | 11.9 |
| 25th January, 1932–3rd March, 1934: | ||||
| Initial applications | 75,044 | 62.9 | 21.6 | 15.5 |
| Renewals and revisions. | 543,451 | 64.8 | 30.1 | 5.1 |
| * The figures for this period include renewals and revisions as well as initial applications; separate statistics for initial applications are not available. |
§ 28. Mr. MACLAYasked the Minister of Labour whether he can give a rough estimate of what the cost would have been during 1933 if those persons in employment who were compelled under the