Vol. 424 No. 10
106 Mr. Deasy asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the amount of lamb imported into the EC in each of the years between 1989 and 1991; the way in which this corresponds to the number of finished lambs; and if Ireland and/or the EC have endeavoured to have this quantity reduced in the current GATT negotiations due to the problem on the market and the likelihood of this problem continuing in the years to come.
Imports of sheepmeat into the Community for the period 1989 to 1991 took place under Voluntary Restraint Agreements concluded with third countries. The following are the annual figures: 1989, 225,156 tonnes; 1990, 283,466 tonnes; 1991, 257,917 tonnes.
The imports relate to (i) live animals, (ii) fresh/chilled meat, (iii) frozen meat and (iv) preserved meat.
It is not possible to convert these data to carcase equivalents since categories (ii) to (iv) are comprised of various cuts.
The current Voluntary Restraint Agreements terminate at the end of this year. It is my intention to protect the interests of Irish sheep producers under whatever import regime will apply after the current VRA's expire on 31 December 1992.
