asked the Minister for Agriculture if he has had discussions with Comhlucht Siúicre Éireann Teoranta concerning the alleged cost penalty of Tuam sugar factory in the overall operation of the company.
Ceisteanna - Questions. Oral Answers. - Tuam (Galway) Sugar Factory.
14.
The cost penalty has been a central issue in the discussions on the future of the Tuam factory that successive Ministers for Agriculture have had with the Sugar Company.
Has the Minister pointed out to the Sugar Company that the losses as certified in Tuam were of the order of £800,000 rather than the £2,500,000 cost penalty that has been continually quoted by the head office? Will he not agree that the headquarters of the Sugar Company is as much a cost penalty as any of the individual factories?
That is quite an argumentative issue. I know that the people in Tuam say it is much less than the figure quoted by the Sugar Company who give a figure slightly in excess of £2,500,000. We have been very reasonable in our dealings with the Tuam company. Some months ago when growers in Deputy Kirk's constituency and others in County Louth, County Meath and north County Dublin were under pressure, particularly with regard to supplies to the Tuam factory, I was able to help them and also to help the Tuam factory.
I am concerned about the Tuam factory. We have kept it open and will continue to do so. We have also demanded that certain cost saving devices be brought in; we are insisting that that happens. It was one of the conditions on which the factory was kept open and on which future funding will be provided. I am not going behind the bush and telling the Deputy something else. We have to have the conditions implemented.
I fully agree with the Minister in what he has said. I am sure he will agree that the increased acreage in the catchment area and the package of voluntary redundancies contributed in a big way towards reducing the losses. I am sure he will also agree that the fact that a total of 45 people were let go, between permanent and temporary jobs in the sugar packaging area, is undermining the company and leading to fear among local people that there is a company policy of closing Tuam by a back door method. Would the Minister take up that point with the Sugar Company?
I have said there is no intention of closing Tuam. I have resisted that lobby that would want to close Tuam for financial and other reasons. I am not deviating from that and have no intention of doing so in the future. But I want to see the conditions under which it was kept open fulfilled. I shall bear in mind what the Deputy said in the sugar packaging section.
Is the Minister assuring us that the quota growers of Meath, Louth and north County Dublin will be assured in respect of this year's growth?
I can assure the Deputy to that effect.
The Minister has said that he has given particular help to the growers in Louth, Meath and north County Dublin — guaranteeing them their quotas. Can he give a similar guarantee to farmers right across the country in the whole of the Tuam catchment area which will ensure that their produce will be accepted and processed in Tuam? Can he give an indication of any proposals of his Department or the Sugar Company to update and modernise the antiquated machines involved in the Tuam factory, a factory that has been discriminated against consistently over a long number of years?
I leave the running of plants, and of the Sugar Company for that matter, to the board. I do not interfere with their day to day activities. I tell Deputies that continuously. I have no reason to believe that they are doing anything to downgrade the Tuam factory. I would be particularly annoyed if I thought that were the case.
What about the guarantee for western farmers?
As long as the beet is produced within the quotas we have been allocated within the EC then there should not be any problem. As I said earlier, I cannot speak for excess beet being produced.
Surely the small men in the west should have the same guarantee within the overall situation?
Deputy E. O'Keeffe may have something else to say now.
Can the Minister say if each factory operates as a profit centre?
I do not know what is the basis of the financial arrangements within the Sugar Company. I imagine it is an overall operation. Obviously they identify profit and loss making units within the overall system.
Within the overall——
We have moved miles away from the question.
They would have costings for each section.