asked the Minister for Agriculture the value of the beef and dairy mountains currently being held by the EC; if he will be presenting any proposals to the EC to dispose of them; and the proportions of Irish beef and dairy products that were sold into intervention in 1985.

The estimated value of the intervention stocks of beef and dairy products held by the Community at the end of October was about £4,200 million.

The disposal of intervention stocks is within the competence of the Commission. I have however, pressed consistently for an extension of the range of disposal measures on both internal and external markets. For example, a new measure which I have actively pursued for the sale of concentrated butter for cooking and baking was introduced recently by the Commission, and I understand that further disposal measures are under consideration. I have also pressed for measures to maximise sales on the commercial market and so reduce intervention intake.

So far this year 16 per cent of Irish production of beef and 44 per cent of production of butter have been sold into intervention.

(Limerick West): Would the Minister comment on a recent suggestion that some of the stock in intervention should be disposed of to third countries and that that would be a self-financing operation?

Very little of the stock is suitable for the type of use the Deputy may have in mind. There is also the added element that however low the price got for the disposal of this stock, it is a very important source of finance to keep the Community going. As long as we can get a reasonable price for it, there is much to be said for selling it on the open market.

(Limerick West): The storage costs are so excessive that it would eliminate storage costs.

Storage costs would be only a fraction of the price fetched when the stocks are disposed of.

I am calling Deputy Leonard, Deputy MacSharry and then Deputy Mac Giolla.

Would the Minister not agree that over the years many of the co-operatives and meat plants took the easy way out — they did not sell their produce but put it into intervention?

I could not agree more. For the past three years I have been advocating — and I am sure previous Ministers for Agriculture had been doing likewise — that people should not use intervention as a safety net but should be selling on the open market because that is where the profits are to be made. Putting this produce into intervention places a terrible burden on the funding of the EC.

Does the Minister intend taking any initiative to release some of the stocks in intervention to the processing industry. Particularly the hamburger factories?

As regards the hamburger industry and processed meats, we rely a lot on third countries for that type of processing. These products can be purchased considerably cheaper abroad than they can be produced within the Community.

We never imported these products from third countries before.

This has been done for years. As long as I have been on the Council of Ministers these products have been imported. As regards milk products, we are using a lot of butter for cooking and baking purposes; that is one way of getting rid of it. The present Commissioner is very active in his efforts to get rid of as much stock as possible. Stocks are at a very high level, first, because of the continued increase in milk production up to last year and, second, as a result of the culling of cows which has increased the beef mountain.

The Minister indicated that most of these stocks are unsuited for famine relief. Is he saying that these stocks have deteriorated and are unfit for human consumption?

Obviously a great deal of this beef would be suitable for you or for me but the food requirements vary from country to country and often times it can do a lot more harm than good. We have to be very careful what products we feed these people.