§ 37. Mr. HALL-CAINEasked the Minister of Agriculture what was the expenditure of the national stud farm in county Kildare during the past financial year, in respect of duty charged on the blood stock reared there and imported into Great Britain?
§ The MINISTER of AGRICULTURE (Mr. W. S. Morrison)The total expenditure was £531 14s. 5d., made up as to £370 12s. 3d. in respect of two yearlings sent to Newmarket for sale, and £161 2s. 2d. in respect of a filly sent to England for racing purposes.
§ Mr. HALL-CAINEDoes not my right hon. Friend consider it somewhat ridiculous for the British Government to pay import duty to the British Treasury on our own horses which are brought over here for sale?
§ Mr. MORRISONI cannot accept that, and I would point out that up to the present the Ministry's share of winnings in respect of the filly to which I have referred amounts to some £300.
§ Sir A. KNOXHave the National Government gone on the turf?
§ 38. Mr. HALL-CAINEasked the Minister of Agriculture whether his attention 497 has been called to the reference made in the report of the Public Accounts Committee to the finances of the national stud farm in county Kildare, in the Irish Free State; and if he can now state whether a scheme has been worked out for the transfer of this farm to Great Britain or for its being closed down?
§ Mr. W. S. MORRISONThe report of the Public Accounts Committee to which my hon. Friend refers does not, I think, contain any reference to the national stud, but I have read the reference to this subject in the minutes of evidence attached to the report. With regard to the second part of the question, I am not at present able to add anything to the official announcement which appeared in the Press on 23rd November, 1935, in which it was stated that although informal discussions had taken place between representatives of the United Kingdom and of the Government of the Irish Free State regarding the position and future of the national stud, no decision was likely to he reached for some time.
§ Mr. HALL-CAINEWill my right hon. Friend be good enough to pursue these informal negotiations?
§ Sir RONALD ROSSWill my right hon. Friend consider the possibility of transferring the national stud to a part of Ireland which is a part of the United Kingdom?