§ Mr. VINCENT KENNEDYasked the Vice-President of the Department of Agriculture (Ireland) whether all the instructors in dairying are paid the same salary; and, if not, why, or do those paid the higher salaries hold certificates of competency in creamery management under the Department?
§ Mr. T. W. RUSSELLThe information as to the salaries of instructors in dairying sought in the first portion of the question was supplied fully in my reply of 30th ultimo to the hon. Member. The holding of the Department's creamery managers' certificate is not a condition of appointment to an instructorship, and the grant of increases of salary to competent instructors does not therefore depend on their holding that certificate.
§ Mr. KENNEDYasked what was the total amount of money expended by the Department on the recent civic exhibition held in Dublin; to what section of the Department was the expenditure charged; 1292W whether Irishmen were in charge of the creamery portion of the exhibits; and whether some of those exhibits gave cause for criticism and dissatisfaction amongst Irish creameries?
§ Mr. RUSSELLThe total expenditure by the Department on the civic exhibition was £1,560, of which £750 was debited to technical instruction funds, and the remainder to funds for agricultural purposes. The creamery exhibit was in charge of the Department's chief dairying inspector. The Department are not aware of any dissatisfaction amongst Irish creameries having been caused by the exhibit.
§ Mr. KENNEDYasked whether an Advisory Committee in dairying was formed by the Department some years ago; what was the date of its formation; how many meetings that body had held since; have they met to consider the retrenchment now proposed by the Department in the dairying section; and, if not, what are the functions of this Advisory Committee in dairying, and is it still in existence?
§ Mr. RUSSELLIn September, 1912, when the Irish Creameries and Dairy Produce Bill was before Parliament, a Committee was formed by the Department to advise them on matters relating to the dairying industry. The Committee, which has not been dissolved, met on one occasion. The functions of the Department's Advisory Committees are confined to advising on the technical aspects of the particular industries concerned, but questions affecting the Department's financial arrangements do not come within their purview.
§ Mr. KENNEDYasked whether some time ago a series of experiments, extending over several years, were carried out to determine the relative keeping qualities of butter salted by different brands of salt; whether, as a result, it was found that some brands of Irish manufactured salt gave better results than those extensively imported into Ireland; what was the cost of those experiments; were the results favouring the Irish manufactured article ever published; and, if so, when and where?
§ Mr. RUSSELLExperiments in the use of salt and other preservatives in butter were made by the Department in the years 1909, 1910, and 1911. The experiments were not an exhaustive test of the relative 1293W merits of all the different brands of salt on the market and reports on individual brands were consequently not published. In the Department's twelfth annual report it was announced that the general result of the experiments showed that the principal brands of Irish made dairy salt were quite suitable for use in creameries. The total cost of the experiments was £40.