Joseph Doyle
Question:18 Mr. Doyle asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the percentage of Irish beef and milk products going into EC intervention at present.
Written Answers. - Intervention Stocks Levels.
Joseph Doyle
Question:30 Mr. Doyle asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the total stock of Irish products held in intervention at present and the total overall stocks held in intervention in the EC.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 18 and 30 together.
Because of a combination of a number of external factors, in particular the impact on Community consumption and third country markets of BSE and of the Gulf crisis, the Irish beef sector has been undergoing a particularly difficult period and has had to rely heavily on intervention support in preventing a major collapse in market prices. A crucial factor in supporting prices has been the availability of safety net intervention which I negotiated during the last review of the beef regime in 1989.
Community intervention stocks of beef as at June 1991 are estimated at 760,000 tonnes of which Ireland accounted for 235,000 tonnes.
Using the months of October 1990 and May 1991 for comparison purposes, the percentage of Irish beef going into intervention was 33.2 per cent in October 1990 and 21.7 per cent in May of 1991.
In so far as disposals of intervention stocks are concerned, the Commission has been actively seeking purchasers for intervention beef and a number of export sales have been effected. The definitive solution is, however, for the industry to become more market led and I regard the new CBF quality scheme as an important move in that direction.
A serious downturn has occurred on the world dairy market since late 1989 with commodity products affected in particular. Intervention stocks of butter and skimmed milk powder in the Community now stand at 398,000 tonnes and 478,000 tonnes respectively, of which 133,000 tonnes of butter and 159,000 tonnes of skimmed milk powder are of Irish origin.
In 1990, intervention intake accounted for about 56 per cent and 47 per cent of Irish production of butter and skimmed milk powder respectively. At present intervention purchases are slightly higher than last year but account for less than 30 per cent of total Irish milk production even in the current difficult market circumstances.
The Irish dairy industry has no other short term option but to avail of the support mechanisms at a time of depressed markets. In the long term the moves towards rationalisation and restructuring will enable the industry to diversify its product portfolio to reduce its reliance on commodity products.
The total Community stocks of cereals as of 13 June 1991 amounted to 18.6 million tonnes of which 90,000 tonnes of barley are presently stored in Ireland.
I have constantly urged producers and the industry generally in both the beef and dairy sectors to avail fully of the advantage of Ireland's image as a producer of wholesome product from a natural and clean environment.