HC Deb 20 January 1943 vol 386 c238W
Mr. Quibell

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food the qualifications of the technicians and scientists who have been responsible for the design, erection and working of the different factories for the processing of potatoes; and how they are being remunerated?

Mr. Mabane

It is not clear what my hon. Friend means. No plants for the processing of potatoes only have been designed by my Department. The only potato processing plants erected by my Department are in Northern Ireland, and are operated on behalf of my Department by the Government of Northern Ireland. These plants, constructed by two firms of long experience, incorporate a design completed before the war. In this country the processing of potatoes is carried out mainly in factories that were in existence before the war and by machinery designed before the creation of the Ministry of Food. If my hon. Friend will be good enough to let me know which factories he has in mind I shall be glad to do my best to give him more precise information.