§ Mr. McEnteeasked the Minister of Food if it was at the request of his Ministry that the ban on the export of gift turkeys from Eire was imposed; and whether, in view of the hardship which the ban entails on thousands of Irish-born men and women now doing good work in Britain, he will ask the Government of Eire to relax it during the month of December to cover the Christmas holiday, especially in view of the fact that these turkeys are sold retail in Eire, or home-produced there, and their export would not, therefore, diminish the quantity available for wholesale, bulk purchase by the Ministry.
§ Mr. StracheyThe ban on exports of gift turkeys was imposed by the Eire Government at our suggestion and I regret that we cannot ask them to relax it. We want as many Eire turkeys as possible to be available for equitable distribution in Great Britain through normal trade channels. The number available for such distribution would be substantially reduced if gifts were permitted.