I move:—

That it is expedient to authorise the payment out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas of any expenses incurred in carrying into effect any Act of the present Session to make provision for the regulation of the export of potatoes and for other matters incidental thereto.

Could the Minister give any idea of whether this Bill will cost anything to the taxpayer and, if so, what amount?

It is rather difficult, because it will depend on the amount of potatoes to be exported. I should say it will cost £3,000, but that the Appropriations-in-Aid will amount to £1,500.

Will it be necessary to employ an extra staff or will the present inspectors be sufficient?

It will be necessary to employ some extra staff. Take Donegal, where we employ inspectors for the farmers' houses and for railway stations. That will give rise to a considerable amount of inspection. The custom there has been for the farmers to export from their premises in order to save cartage and to bring them to the railway station. We will inspect the potatoes there. That is quite common in the North of Ireland. That will cause a certain amount of expenditure and will mean extra staff. There are other cases where potatoes are bought from the farmers and delivered at the railway station. We estimate that we shall have to employ three additional inspectors.

Fresh meat inspectors are employed uniformly all the year round. In this case there may perhaps be a good deal of work to be done for four months. Will they be part-time men?

No, not entirely. We may have to employ them part-time. But we will also appoint men who will be doing inspection work and who will fit in with our general educational scheme.

Money Resolution agreed to.