Vol. 443 No. 2
47 Mr. Leonard asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment the progress that has been made towards having all bovine hides processed in this country; and the percentage of hides processed for the last accounting period for which returns are available.
I am pleased to say that the establishment of a hide processing operation in Portlaw, County Waterford by a major international company, late last year, shows that significant progress-has been made in enhancing the capability to process bovine hides in the State. The Central Statistics Office cannot provide precise data on the percentage of bovine hides processed. Forbairt however, estimates that apart from the high seasonal peaks, there is now capacity within the country to process a large proportion of the hides available from cattle export premises.
