asked the Minister for Agriculture if he will confirm that 70 per cent of the butter mountain is stored in West Germany, and that because the Deutschemark is the most over-valued green currency, there is an artificial inducement to storage in West Germany; and that storage costs generally are absorbing a disproportionately large share of the cost of the Common Agricultural Policy.

At present about 72 per cent of the Community's public intervention stock is stored in the Federal Republic of Germany. Under the relevant Community rules each member state can purchase into intervention only butter produced on its own territory. There is, therefore, no possibility of butter from other member states being bought into intervention in the Federal Republic. Due to the value of the green rate for the deutschemark the intervention price is higher in Germany than in other member states but Community aids for alternative disposal—for instance export subsidies—are also correspondingly higher. Storage costs account for about 10 per cent of GAP expenditure.

Would the Minister agree that a large part of the benefit of the CAP which is supposed to be going to the farmers is in fact going to large companies in Germany who are making very substantial profits on storing intervention products and that this constitutes a reform of the CAP with which Ireland could agree? Would the Minister seek to remove the artificial advantage these people now have because of the divergence of the green rate?

The answer to the first part of the question is "no" because 10 per cent is all that is used for storage.

Would the Minister not agree that 10 per cent is far too high as a proportion of CAP to be spent on storage alone?

It is high but it is not a large amount.