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Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 19 May 1981

Vol. 328 No. 15

Adjournment Debate. - Cyprus Potato Imports.

I want to talk about the problems regarding the importation of Cyprus potatoes. Irish potato producers, many of whom are located in County Meath, have had two very bad years, last year and the year before. Last year, in particular, their problems were aggravated by the very substantial importation of early Cyprus potatoes, which led to a dramatic decline in the price paid for potatoes produced here. Considerable pressure was put on the Minister to take action to stop the importation of Cyprus potatoes, particularly because these potatoes were not coming from within the EEC. They were coming from a country outside the EEC, to whom we had no obligation under the Treaty of Rome to allow their potatoes in.

The Minister, in reply to a question in January, said he had taken powers to ensure that those imports would stop and that this year farmers would have the assurance that there would be no importation of Cyprus potatoes. I welcomed that commitment. Seven days ago, the Minister of State, Deputy Smith, was asked if that commitment was adhered to. He was asked by Deputy D'Arcy, as reported in volume 328, column 2564 of the Official Report of 12 May 1981:

Can the Minister guarantee that Cyprus potatoes will not reach this country before all the ware potatoes are bought up?

The Minister of State replied:

The order which the Minister for Agriculture introduced restricting imports from Cyprus is intended to do what the Deputy suggests. There is no application for a licence before the Minister and there is no intention of granting one.

Nothing could be more unequivocal. Within four days of those words being spoken by the Minister of State an application was granted by the Minister for Agriculture to allow 200 tons of Cyprus potatoes to be introduced into this country for, as we were told, processing, not for sale on the open market. I understand that a licence was granted on the very day the Minister of State was telling the House there was no application for a licence before the Minister and there was no intention of granting one. If, having said that, the situation can change so much within the space of three days, is there any wonder farmers do not trust the Government not to allow any more Cyprus potatoes in?

I know the Government are saying that those 200 tons are the only potatoes which will be allowed in. If they could tell the Dáil in a formal reply to a question that not only would they not allow any in but there was no application to allow any in and within three days such an application was granted, is it any wonder farmers do not have much confidence in what the Minister is likely to say? The case will probably be made by the Minister of State that he will take steps to ensure that any of the potatoes that come in here will not trickle into the domestic market and be used to depress the price of potatoes sold by Irish producers.

How does the Minister propose to police that operation? It is all right to say it will not be possible for them to be sold at retail level in County Louth and County Meath because there are enough local potato producers likely to go around the shops to keep an eye on this and report the abuse. There will not be producers in the west in a position to go around to every shop. What way is there to stop those potatoes trickling into the domestic market in part of the country where there is not a heavy concentration of potato production and vigilance by the producers?

Will the Minister of State tell us why Irish potatoes could not be used for the processing operation for which he had seen his way, despite his previous commitment, to allow imported Cyprus potatoes to be used? Why could Irish potatoes not be used for the same purpose? In view of the statement of the Minister of State in the Dáil on 13 May, so rapidly proved incorrect, it is hard to put a lot of credence in an assurance from him. Can he give an assurance that there will be no further importation of Cyprus potatoes? The Minister of State should know that Irish potato producers are in a very angry mood at present. They feel they have been let down. They feel very insecure and they want a cast iron assurance that their situation will not be allowed to deteriorate the way it deteriorated last year.

It is quite simple to discern a Cypriot, whether he is a Greek Cypriot or a Turkish Cypriot, from an Irishman but it is a totally different matter to try to tell where a potato comes from, whether it is produced in this country or in Cyprus. How will the Minister police the importation of potatoes? The potatoes from Cyprus have already come across the Border and will continue to flow across it in the next few months. If this is allowed in an unabated manner, as it was allowed last year, the Irish producers may be wiped out.

Irish potato growers, especially growers of early potatoes, had a disastrous year in 1980. Normally, in the months of June and July, they could hope to get as much as £160 to £200 a ton for their produce. Last year quite often they could get only £30 to £40 a ton. That situation will have to be redressed if they are to remain in business. What does the Minister intend to do?

On 25 February last, in the course of another Adjournment Debate, the Minister told me he would make an order under the Agricultural Products (Regulation of Imports) Act, 1938 to control those imports. We read in today's newspapers that 200 tons of Cyprus potatoes came across the Border from Northern Ireland yesterday and they would be used for processing. I understood that most of the processing industry had ceased. I know that potatoes were used for the manufacture of alcohol some years ago and there has been talk of setting up a processing industry to produce frozen chips. Would the Minister tell us where those potatoes are going to? According to this evening's newspapers they were actually delivered this morning to the Dublin vegetable market. The photographs of the pickets are in this evening's newspapers. Surely if they were to be processed they would have gone direct to the processing centres? I am very suspicious that they will be on sale and will end up in retail shops around the country. The way these potatoes have been freely sold throughout the State has been the main cause of this problem.

Can the Minister give an assurance that smuggling will be reduced or, if possible, stopped completely? I do not know if any attempt was made to stop or control the importation of these potatoes, but I do not believe there was. As Cyprus is not a member or an associate member of the EEC nor has any trade agreements with the EEC in this regard, I cannot understand how these potatoes were let in last year and how the present situation is being tolerated.

It is obvious the British are allowing the uncontrolled importation of Cyprus potatoes and that is how they are getting to Northern Ireland and then across the Border. Has the Minister had any negotiations with the British authorities to ensure that the amount of such potatoes coming to Northern Ireland is compatible with the demand for that area alone and that the North is not being used as a depot for smuggling them into the South? It is very easy to smuggle from the Six Counties into the Twenty-six Counties.

Last year we imported £4 million worth of potatoes. For a traditional producer of potatoes this is a staggering figure. I would like to see the Minister taking steps to eliminate this type of imports as long as there are potatoes available on the home market. There are still large stocks of home produced potatoes available and there will be for many months to come. The Cypriots have a climatic advantage and can produce their early potatoes two or three months earlier than we can, but we do not see why our producers should be put out of business because of unfair competition, especially as Cyprus is not a member of the EEC.

I wish to add my voice to this protest. Coming from a potato area I want to spotlight a grievance of the Donegal farmers who are trying to rid themselves of an enormous amount of potatoes which they cannot sell. Recently the IDA gave a grant of £600,000 to a member of the Fianna Fáil Party — a member of the other House — to open a processing factory in Letterkenny. All the potatoes used in that factory are being imported. This is causing grave alarm to the potato producers in County Donegal. I cannot see the reason why one State body should financially support a venture which is not taking home-produced potatoes. The excuse put forward is that the potatoes grown in County Donegal are not suitable and the potatoes coming from Northern Ireland are the only type that can be processed, but that is not the story which was told to the farmers when the grants were being given. As a result of many promises which were whispered in their ears during the by-election — many farmers were told that when this potato factory opened in Letterkenny the many thousands of tons of potatoes on their hands would be taken into the factory — many farmers pledged financial support for the factory. Many of them hoped this would be an outlet for their surplus potatoes, but what thanks did they get? The Department of Agriculture gave that factory a permit to import potatoes from Northern Ireland. This is the most ludicrous situation that could arise in a depressed area where people work very hard to produce potatoes and where the Potato Marketing Board have not delivered this year.

A very close friend of the Minister's, the managing director of the new potato processing factory in Letterkenny, was given licence to import potatoes from Northern Ireland because, it was said, the only suitable potatoes available had to be imported from Northern Ireland. This is far from the truth. Many people who understand the position say there are many varieties of potatoes in County Donegal which are just as suitable. It is scandalous that public money is given to a Senator of the Fianna Fáil Party to build a factory in Letterkenny. It is not the first grant that same Senator was given. He got grants for hotels, probably more money——

The Deputy should confine his remarks to the motion.

He got money to build local authority houses. He got money to build a factory in Letterkenny which was to provide an outlet for the surplus potatoes Donegal farmers have on hands. That is the message they were given during the by-election. They were told the Government were doing something for the potato producers in County Donegal, but what did they do? They gave one of their own members a grant of at least £600,000 to build a factory. What did he do? He applied for a licence to import potatoes from Northern Ireland because, he said, the potatoes in Donegal were not suitable. The fact is they were cheaper in Northern Ireland. He is importing them at a giveaway price.

Is the Deputy saying Donegal potatoes are suitable?

People who understand potatoes say there are varieties on hand which are suitable.

Deputy Harte without interruption.

I will give Deputy Leonard two minutes if he wants to defend this situation.

What are the varieties?

It cries to high Heaven that such a situation should be tolerated in an area like Donegal where there is an agricultural depression.

Deputy Harte did not refer to any varieties but he said the variety being imported——

If Deputy Leonard wants to defend the situation he can do so. I will not enter into a dialogue across the House with him.

In fairness to the factory owner, tell me the varieties.

I have only one minute left and Deputy Leonard is not going to stop me saying what I want. Public money has been provided to grant-aid a company in Letterkenny which was to be an outlet for potatoes grown in east Donegal. No potatoes from east Donegal have gone into that factory. They are being imported from Northern Ireland because they are cheaper, not because they are more suitable.

I would remind the Deputy that we are referring to potatoes imported from Cyprus.

I have no guarantee, nor has anybody else, that the potatoes being imported from Northern Ireland come from Cyprus. I hope the Minister has an answer to my allegations which I know to be true.

I would like to thank the Minister for Agriculture and his Minister of State for enabling me this afternoon to arrange a meeting at very short notice with the responsible farmers of Leinster, and North County Dublin in particular, who were picketing the importation of Cyprus potatoes last night and this morning. That meeting took place with senior officials of the Department and the question was thrashed out in detail. I would like to place on record my appreciation of the practical understanding shown at that meeting by the Department's senior officials. A recommendation is being made to the Minister tomorrow that further imports of Cyprus potatoes cease completely and that they will not be allowed in in any circumstances.

I would like also to place on record my appreciation of the responsible manner in which the farmers of Leinster behaved this morning and the efficient way they highlighted the skulduggery being carried on in this nefarious trade in relation to this importation. On the face of it the importation of these potatoes was supposed to be for processing but they would have ended up on the retail shelves. I would like to compliment the nationalistic-minded civil servants for their detective work. They looked up the 1938 Import Act to enable them legally to put these facts before the Minister tomorrow to make sure we are not scourged with this situation in the future.

This will have a twofold effect. It will save the Irish housewife from paying exorbitant prices for potatoes and save the Irish potato industry. If this does not succeed, we have the commitment of the Minister for Agriculture and the Ministers of State to ensure that the Irish housewife will have a quality product at a reasonable price so that she will not be at the mercy of a handful of importers who would exploit her ruthlessly for strictly profit motive, throwing on the market, perhaps, inferior potatoes which would not be of any use to anybody.

I call on the Minister to reorganise the potato section in the Department and to establish a marketing board for the entire country so that the fragmented industry will have some rationale, so that we will be able to provide quality produce and give confidence to smaller growers throughout the country. I have no doubt Irish potato growers can do this. Neither have I any doubt that the Minister will ensure that this trade will become a viable one from the point of view of all concerned.

On 6 March the Minister for Agriculture made an order under the Agricultural Products (Regulation of Import) Act, 1938 entitled the Potatoes (Regulation of Import) Order, 1981. This prohibits the importation, except under licence, of potatoes from all countries other than EEC member states. The order was made to prevent a recurrence of the position last year when considerable quantities of third country potatoes were imported causing an imbalance in our market. The expectation at the time, and, indeed, until very recently, was that our own supplies plus those coming from other EEC member states would be ample to see us through.

Notwithstanding considerable pressure from at least one third country we continued to refuse to issue any licences for the importation of potatoes on the grounds that we had adequate supplies from our resources and imports from member states. However, when we were satisfied that supplies for processing were no longer adequate, the importation of a consignment of 200 tonnes of Cyprus potatoes for processing was licensed yesterday. This action, which had the full support of the Irish Farmers' Association, was necessary to ensure adequate supplies for the processing plants. The potatoes were imported through Dundalk under my Department's supervision, and the importers concerned have given undertakings that they will, one, dispose of the potatoes only to a bona fide processor or caterer and on the strict understanding that such potatoes will not be subsequently disposed of for sale or otherwise, other than in processed form; and, two, not directly expose such potatoes for sale at any time either loose or in containers.

They have also accepted that, if in the opinion of the Minister for Agriculture either of these undertakings is not complied with, the Minister reserves the right to have any potatoes in their possessions which he considers to have originated in Cyprus seized by an officer of his Department and to be subsequently disposed of as he sees fit. There are 21 officers employed full time in the Department who are available daily to ensure that these regulations and grading conditions are complied with to the fullest extent.

I can assure the House that my Department will take the appropriate steps to ensure that these undertakings are complied with. Any potatoes which are exposed for sale are liable to seizure. Indeed, I might mention that approximately one tonne of Cyprus potatoes was seized yesterday in County Louth.

As regards further imports from third countries, this is a matter which will have to be kept under continuing review. Decisions about allowing further imports can only be taken in the light of the day-to-day supply position, particularly the position in regard to supplies to the processing plants.

I am satisfied that Irish producers will have no difficulty in clearing all their supplies of good quality ware potatoes before the end of the season. Prices for Irish ware potatoes have been quite satisfactory since the order was made in March. In fact the price of potatoes since March has doubled. The controls which the Minister introduced have had the desired effect of bringing back confidence in the trade.

For the information of Deputy Bruton, in case he is not aware of this, a group of farmers, the majority of whom are from County Meath, were in the Department of Agriculture this afternoon and met officials concerning the importation of potatoes. On hearing the background of the decision taken in regard to this importation they were quite happy that the right course had been taken. They expressed their appreciation of what has been done by the Minister for Agriculture and the Department to assist the industry.

The development programme for the potato industry was agreed yesterday in Brussels. This means that further aid will be available, particularly for processing and the storage of potatoes, matters of prime concern to all of us.

I will refer to Deputy Harte's allegation. Anyone who has the courage to invest in the future of the country by investing in a processing unit which would save the country up to £4 million a year should not be castigated in the way the Deputy sought to do. Such people should instead be congratulated because up to quite recently imports of frozen chips have been costing the country as much annually as the figure I have just given. When this plan is in full production it will save the country——

The Minister knows there is a fiddle.

In relation to Northern Ireland, there will be an importation of 60 tonnes per week. Under EEC regulations we cannot interfere with that trade. We will be importing ideal varieties for processing and these varieties are not available in the quantities needed.

That is the official story.

As soon as the Donegal farmers see the possibility of producing varieties which are ideally suitable for processing in the new Donegal plant I have every confidence they will do so. We should not have Deputies coming into the House, as Deputy Harte has done, to describe the Donegal undertaking in these terms. This will be a very successful operation in the years ahead and the Deputy cannot say anything that will take away from that. I am satisfied that the decisions taken by the Minister for Agriculture in the issuing of the licence yesterday was in the best interests of the industry. The producers already know that the order introduced in March has had a very good effect on the industry. The price of potatoes at the moment is indicative of the success of that development.

Why did the Minister for Agriculture say there had not been an application for a licence?

The Dáil adjourned at 9 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 20 May 1981.

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