Monitoring agricultural input costs
Bruton asks for stronger monitoring, potentially including detailed price controls, amid rising farm input costs and falling incomes. O’Malley says inputs are already monitored and explains that farming organisations had sought the end of strict controls; he agrees to ask the Commission whether changes are needed.
asked the Minister for Industry, Commerce and Tourism if, in view of the tightening cost-price squeeze in agriculture, he will request the National Prices Commission to devote special attention to the costs of agricultural inputs.
Comment on this
The Central Statistics Office compile and publish an agricultural price input index on a monthly and annual basis.
Fertilisers and feeding stuffs are the main constituent elements of the index. The prices of both of these commodities are subject to comprehensive monitoring on a continous basis by the National Prices Commission. Other items included in the index are also subject to control.
Comment on this
Will the Minister ask the National Prices Commission, in view of the fact that this year farmers face increases in prices of their inputs of the range of 25 per cent and the fact that their real incomes for this year, taking interest payments into account, will fall by 25 per cent, to have another look at the system of monitoring which applies with a view to the introduction of detailed price control, if necessary?
Comment on this
The monitoring system is kept constantly under review but it is worth pointing out that the present system was introduced in 1973 primarily as a result of requests from the farming organisations to discontinue strict or detailed price control. The view of the organisations was that strict price control had the effect of eliminating competition in the field of feedstuffs and also in terms of fertilisers. In fact, the consuming farmer, they felt, would be better off without strict control. That view appears to have been borne out by experience since. The monitoring does not indicate that the price levels being charged for these commodities are now any higher than they would be if the older type of strict control had been continued in respect of them.
Comment on this
I agree with the Minister's general proposition, having allowed it to continue for two years when I was responsible in that area. Will the Minister consider the special consideration arising as a result of 1979 and ask the commission to have another look at this to see if it would be possible to introduce an improvement in the monitoring system?