asked the Minister for Agriculture if, due to the depressed state of the pigs and bacon industry he will consider making intervention available.
Written Answers. - Pigmeat Production.
119.
Since public intervention is available only on a Community-wide basis it is not open to individual member states to introduce it on the basis of market conditions prevailing in their own areas.
Pigmeat production by its nature is particularly susceptible to market developments so that the system of intervention buying-in of pigmeat is rarely used since it does not offer prospects for long term stability in the market. The most commonly used form of market support in this area is aids for private storage which, by temporarily removing excess supplies from the market, facilitates the adjustment of supply to market requirements. The other market mechanism resorted to is the system of export refunds which helps to take supplies off the internal Community market. In recent times both of these market support measures have been available to member states in an attempt to improve the market situation and in fact an improvement has occurred in continental markets.
The particular difficulties of the industry in Ireland will not, in any case, be solved by market supports alone. I have frequently stressed the need for structural improvements at the manufacturing level. Rationalisation of slaughtering capacity and modernisation of processing plans are urgently required if the industry is to be able to withstand the growing competition on home and export markets. Generous grant aid for suitable investment projects is available from both the IDA and FEOGA. At marketing level, a more aggressive approach to selling and the allocation of more resources to the areas of product quality and diversification are also required.