§ Mr. CAUTLEYasked the Food Controller if he will state the average cost per animal of freight, insurance, lairage, and feeding charges paid by him to the owners of Irish fat cattle shipped from Ireland to this country; whether such charges were prior to 1918 borne by the owner; what was the reason for the Government taking on these costs; whether he is aware that the result of this policy is to artificially raise the price of Irish fat cattle at the cost of the English taxpayer and reacts on Irish store cattle and causes their price to be prohibitive to the graziers of the Midlands and East Anglian markets; and whether he can see his way to abandon it and revert to the old practice?
Mr. ROBERTSAs regards the first part of the question, I would refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. and gallant Member for Horncastle on 10th April. The charges now paid by the Ministry of Food in respect of Irish fat cattle imported into Great Britain were, prior to the institution of control in June, 1918, paid by the owners of the cattle; but it should be pointed that as most of the cattle were at that time sold in Ireland to English dealers, these charges did not necessarily fall upon the Irish farmer. The Ministry of Food undertook to pay these charges in order to give the owners of Irish fat cattle equality of treatment with the farmers of Great Britain, on whose stock freight and feeding charges are paid, under the present arrangements for control of the sale of live stock for slaughter. I cannot agree that this policy has the effect described by the hon. Member, and am not prepared to adopt the suggestion made in the last part of the question.