asked the Minister for Agriculture the value and volume under the headings of meat, dairy produce etc, of competing food imports into Ireland each year since 1970; and the number of jobs which could be created in this country at present if these directly competing food imports were supplied by the Irish food industry.
Written Answers. - Food Imports.
111.
With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, I will circulate with the Official Report a statement giving the information sought in the first part of the question in so far as my Department are concerned. I should point out, however, that it is not always possible to determine from the official statistics whether a particular type of product imported could in fact be produced here.
As regards the second part of the question, the number of jobs which might be created if directly competing food imports were supplied by the Irish food industry cannot be quantified with any precision particularly as the consumption of some domestically produced processed goods would be offset in many cases by a decline in the volume of exports. The net effect on jobs in the Irish food industry in these circumstances could therefore be less than might otherwise be expected. The Government's policy is however to take every measure possible to maximise, for the benefit of Irish industry and work force, the opportunities presented by the domestic market.
Following is the statement:
Imports 1970-1979
|
Year |
Meat and Meat |
Dairy Products |
Horticulture |
Sugar |
||||
|
Preparations |
and Eggs |
|||||||
|
Tonnes |
£000 |
Tonnes |
£000 |
Tonnes |
£000 |
Tonnes |
£000 |
|
|
1970 |
784 |
345 |
179 |
294 |
45,409 |
5,240 |
1,562 |
1,174 |
|
1971 |
715 |
338 |
322 |
283 |
48,057 |
5,046 |
2,072 |
1,910 |
|
1972 |
2,114 |
420 |
4,099 |
553 |
45,265 |
6,007 |
1,548 |
2,387 |
|
1973 |
2,200 |
1,047 |
45,000 |
2,120 |
55,400 |
7,178 |
16,042 |
1,450 |
|
1974 |
3,600 |
2,180 |
90,000 |
2,793 |
51,100 |
8,531 |
36,400 |
6,491 |
|
1975 |
5,700 |
4,000 |
105,000 |
6,874 |
46,200 |
8,223 |
49,000 |
13,732 |
|
1976 |
7,600 |
5,812 |
119,000 |
8,776 |
51,600 |
10,636 |
90,000 |
13,924 |
|
1977 |
9,400 |
8,302 |
89,600 |
10,694 |
47,000 |
13,264 |
52,100 |
9,053 |
|
1978 |
11,700 |
10,279 |
89,700 |
11,628 |
64,100 |
16,758 |
25,900 |
5,369 |
|
1979 |
12,900 |
12,592 |
96,000 |
14,888 |
79,000 |
20,937 |
23,200 |
4,790 |
Note (1) Due to reclassification changes in the trade statistics for the years 1974 onwards, data for the years 1970-1973 are not strictly comparable to later years.