§ Colonel BURTONasked the Minister of Agriculture whether he has any information showing that the restrictions on the importation of foreign pork are being evaded by its passages through the Irish Free State to ports in Great Britain?
§ Mr. GUINNESSI have heard rumours from time to time that foreign pork was being sent to Great Britain via the Irish Free State, but the investigations I have made have provided no confirmation of these rumours. The Governments of both198W Northern Ireland and the Irish Free State have made Orders similar to that in force in Great Britain, prohibiting the importation of fresh carcases from the Continent of Europe, and these Orders are being strictly enforced. Further assurances on this point were received from the Irish Free State Department of Agriculture quite recently. I am advised that the rumour probably has its origin in the fact that crates in which pigs were formerly brought from Holland to this country are now being used to bring pigs from Ireland to Great Britain, and these crates are marked in the Dutch language.