HC Deb 13 December 1948 vol 459 cc812-3
9. Sir R. Ross

asked the Minister of Food what are the arrangements by which maize was lent to Eire; and on what terms is repayment to be made.

Mr. Strachey

We have loaned Eire a total of 46,582 tons of maize by diverting shipments en route to the United Kingdom from Argentina. We shall be repaid in a similar manner from shipments arranged by Eire from the United States.

Sir R. Ross

Was not the maize we bought and loaned to Eire about £30 a ton; is not the maize they are paying back about £17 a ton; are they not selling maize to their farmers at about £20 a ton; and why are we subsidising their agriculture?

Mr. Strachey

There will be no loss to the British Treasury in this transaction.

Major Legge-Bourke

Does not the right hon. Gentleman recall that he gave me an assurance in this House that no maize would go to Eire under this agreement?

Mr. Strachey

No maize will go. We are loaning this tonnage and receiving it back. There will be no net loss of maize to Eire under the arrangement.

Professor Savory

Will the right hon. Gentleman tell us the date on which this loan is to be repaid?

Mr. Strachey

As a matter of fact, we are the people who do not wish repayment to take place too soon, for our own convenience. It can be repaid, I think, early in the New Year, but we do not wish it to be repaid too soon.

Sir R. Ross

Can the right hon. Gentleman assure the House that the maize with which we are being paid back will be no cheaper than the maize we are lending?

Mr. Strachey

I can assure the hon. Member—which is surely his point—that there will be no loss to the British Treasury on the transaction.

Mr. Lennox-Boyd

Does the right hon. Gentleman's earlier answer mean that we have already got all the maize we need at the moment? If so, why cannot it be distributed?

Mr. Strachey

There are considerable stocks at the moment because it is flowing in from the Argentine at a great rate. That does not mean that we have all the feedingstuffs we would like over the whole year. That, of course, is completely met by the repayment later in the year from Eire.

10. Sir R. Ross

asked the Minister of Food why there is a shortage of maize meal for pig feeding in Northern Ireland, in view of the plentiful supply available in Eire.

Mr. Strachey

Northern Ireland receives her due proportion of all feeding-stuffs, including maize, available for animal feeding to the United Kingdom. I have no means of comparing accurately the supplies available in Eire at any time with those available in Northern Ireland, but I should not have thought that at present maize is plentiful in Eire.

Sir R. Ross

Is not the Minister aware that maize is plentiful in Eire and very difficult to get in Northern Ireland, and that Eire has not so far supplied us with a single rasher of bacon?

Mr. Strachey

Eire, of course, is quite entitled to import maize. She is doing so, but not on our account—on her own account.

Mr. Skeffington-Lodge

Why is there always this bias against Eire?