asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries what effects devaluation will have on pigs and bacon industries.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Devaluation Effects.
9.
While the British market for pigmeat has become less economic for some of the other principal suppliers which have not devalued or have devalued to a smaller extent than Ireland, the prices obtainable there for Irish pigmeat are not directly affected by devaluation. In the case of bacon, prices are primarily determined by market conditions influenced by the quota supply arrangements under the Multilateral Bacon Understanding. Fresh pork prices in Britain are not affected as the supplies consist of home-produced and Irish. When supplies of pigs increase sufficiently to enable us to resume exports of pigmeat to other markets our competitive position in those markets will be improved in relation to that of most of our competitors.
On the production side, the pig industry may be affected by higher prices for imported feed but effects of this will be limited by the fact that much of the pig feed is home produced.