asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if he has considered any preparations for the food industry after 1992; if he is concerned at the presence of strong internal competition from the EC; his views on whether the industry is equipped to deal with this situation; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - Food Industry.
62.
In line with the priority given to the agri-food industry in the Programme for National Recovery a five-year strategy for the food and drink industry was drawn up by the IDA in consultation with my Department which covers the period 1988 to 1992. This strategy acknowledges that the European food market is extremely competitive and aims at preparing the Irish food and drink industry to compete in that market by, in particular, addressing weakness in areas such as marketing, management, product development and scale. I am confident that the implementation of this strategy will greatly strengthen the capacity of the Irish food and drink industry to benefit from the free internal market of the EC after 1992.
In the past two years the underlying trend in our food and drink export performance has been very encouraging with record production and export levels being achieved and it is expected that last year's record performance will be surpassed this year. This clearly demonstrates the success of the Government's strategy for the industry and I am confident that the continued implementation of that strategy will adequately prepare the industry to meet the challenges of the marketplace by 1992.