asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries the future for horticulture within the EEC.
Ceisteanna—Questions Oral Answers. - Horticultural Industry.
25.
I would refer the Deputy to paragraph 5.30 of the White Paper published last month on the Accession of Ireland to the European Communities. The general implications for the horticultural industry of Ireland's membership of an enlarged EEC were earlier set out in the study Irish Agriculture and Fisheries in the EEC published in April, 1970.
I would also refer the Deputy to paragraphs 166 and 167 of the appendix to the White Paper which outline the special timetable negotiated for the dismantlement of our tariffs on horticultural products and the special import arrangements which will apply during the transitional period for apples and tomatoes in lieu of the existing quantitative controls. These arrangements will help the industry to prepare for free conditions which will apply from the beginning of 1978.
As indicated in the publications I have mentioned, the extent of increased competition from imports gradually over the transitional period will, of course, vary according to product, but on our home market, where the vast bulk of the Irish output is sold, our producers will have advantages in such matters as transport and handling costs, freshness and quality, especially in the case of low-priced bulky products. In the case of one of the more important horticultural products, namely tomatoes, we have, in fact, developed a sizeable export trade in recent years against outside competition. It will, however, be important for our horticultural industry to aim at the highest level of efficiency in production, processing and marketing.
I should like to ask the Minister if he is aware that the analysis of the prospects for horticulture in EEC circumstances, which has been put out for the vastly more developed British horticultural industry by the British Minister of Agriculture, is enormously more pessimistic than the version that has been given in regard to Irish horticulture by the Minister and by his servants?
I am aware that there are differing opinions in Britain about this, but I came across a reference only yesterday to a visit by the British Minister to a number of horticulturalists in Britain and their view is rather more optimistic than the analysis to which the Deputy refers.