Meeting of Irish and British officials at the Commonwealth Relations Office

A meeting was held at 11 o'clock in the Commonwealth Relations Office. Sir John Stephenson presided, and there were present representatives of the British Ministries of Food, Agriculture, and Fuel & Power, the Board of Trade, the Bank of England and the Treasury (Mr. Rowe-Dutton). The Irish Delegation consisted of representatives of the Department of Finance led by Mr. McElligott, representatives of the Department of Industry and Commerce led by Mr. Leydon, and representatives of the Department of Agriculture led by Mr. Ó Broin. Sir John Stephenson opened the proceedings by referring to the request made by the Taoiseach that there should be discussions between officials of the two countries in regard to the supplies we needed, and the adjustments that might be made in our trade relations with Great Britain. He was not sure what was the best way to proceed. It seemed clear that there would be a good deal of detail to be discussed and it might be necessary to have separate meetings between Departments, but perhaps the best thing would be at this stage to have a general discussion. He called on Mr. McElligott to speak.

Mr. McElligott outlined generally the requirements of animal feeding stuffs, fertilisers and agricultural machinery and referred to the problems that had to be discussed as regards the impact of British import price policy on the exports from Ireland. He went on to refer to our needs of coal mentioning the low calorific value and the smallness of the supply as compared with normal. He referred generally to our petrol requirements and to the industrial raw materials position, mentioning that ordinarily we were dependent to the extent of at least 50% of our requirements on imports, almost all of which had come from Great Britain before the war. We felt that we were not getting a reasonable share and in some instances there seemed to be discrimination against us. He referred also to the fact that there was a surplus of productive capacity in some industries which could be utilised for the production of goods for export if we were given the necessary raw materials.

Mr. Rowe-Dutton expressed disappointment that nothing more concrete was being put forward at that stage. He emphasised the seriousness of the dollar shortage, the necessity for the sterling area as a whole to co-operate in measures for economy in dollar expenditure and the urgency of getting on with the job. It was a source of gratification to them that the Taoiseach had announced that the Irish Government were prepared to co-operate as far as possible in meeting the difficulties which had arisen. He had expected that Mr. McElligott would be able to put forward firm proposals which would show -

• precisely what dollar expenditure could be saved if specified supplies were made available from Great Britain;
• what supplies it would be possible for Ireland to send to Great Britain for supplies of industrial raw materials, and also in exchange for such supplies of animal feeding stuffs, fertilisers and agricultural machinery as it might be possible for Britain to provide. This statement should also show what supplies of cattle, etc. Britain was likely to get if adjustments were made in British import prices;
• in addition, what economies in dollar expenditure or in hard currency expenditure, Ireland could make by curtailing consumption of goods.

He thought it was essential, as a prelude to further consideration, that notes on these points should be submitted by the Irish Delegation, and that the British Departments concerned should have an opportunity of examining them with a view to further discussion, and consideration of the most convenient methods of procedure.

The Chairman invited observations from the representatives of other British Departments present. The representative of the Ministry of Agriculture disputed, in a general way the statement that price discrimination against Irish cattle was as high as stated and that the fall in production was due to price. A general discussion followed, the British attitude being that prices as they were, gave the Irish farmer at least as good a profit as British prices gave the British farmer. This was disputed by the Department of Agriculture representatives.

Mr. Leydon mentioned that it was possible at that stage to indicate what supplies of essential raw materials we would like to get from Great Britain, and these were communicated to the meeting. The figures given were those set out in the schedule to this brief on Raw Materials prepared for the Government.¹ As regards coal, Mr. Leydon indicated that our additional requirement was 1,100,000 tons, due allowance having been made for fuel oil conversions, and explained how this was made up, mentioning that it was based on a strict rationing scheme. Fuel oil and petrol requirements were given (the latter on the basis of maintaining the present ration). Comparisons between British and Irish consumptions per head of the population, cars per head of the population, rail transport services and degree of pleasure motoring were also given.

After some general discussion it was agreed that the Irish Delegation would prepare notes showing requirements under the various heads, and estimating as far as possible what dollar expenditure would be saved as a result of obtaining supplies from Great Britain, and what supplies could be sent to Great Britain in exchange for raw materials for agriculture and industry. It was agreed that a further meeting would be held at 3 o'clock on Tuesday, 23rd September, the British side meeting in the meantime to consider the notes of our requirements.