§ Captain Orrasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will now take action to reduce the disparity between the guaranteed price for milk in Northern Ireland and the guaranteed price for milk elsewhere in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. PriorYes. We are taking advantage of the changes required by decimalisation in order to bring the guaranteed price for milk in Northern Ireland more nearly into line with the guaranteed price for milk elsewhere in the United Kingdom. Following the Annual Review the United Kingdom average guaranteed price for 1971–72 is being increased by 2.5p to 22.1p a gallon but the guaranteed price for milk in the area of the Milk Marketing Board for Northern Ireland is being increased by 2.9p a gallon to 21.95p a gallon. Thus the disparity has been largely eliminated.