Michael Creed
Question:10 Mr. Creed asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if he will suspend the veterinary inspectors' fee in view of the crisis in the pigment sector. [28136/98]
Priority Questions. - Pigmeat Sector.
The veterinary inspection fee for pigs is provided for under Council Directive 93/118/EC and any adjustment to it must, therefore, be with EU approval. I sought Commission approval to adjust the fee in line with the cyclical movement in pig prices. The Commission indicated it is unwilling to provide for this on the basis that the suggested adjustment would be incompatible with the Council directive.
Has the Minister any proposals to alleviate the crisis in the pigmeat sector with which he is very familiar? Thousands of pig farmers who have made huge investments in modern pig production facilities are losing extraordinary amounts of money every week and are in danger of being forced out of business because the losses are unsustainable over a long period. Is there any policy in the Department to alleviate the income cash crisis? The £1 levy on which the Minister has slammed the door would only be a gesture of solidarity and a recognition of the crisis. Are there any proposals from the Department to do anything for the sector?
Regarding the levy, proposals were submitted to Brussels but the Council of Ministers and the Commissioner did not agree with abandoning, adjusting or deferring the levy for any period.
Was it not done before?
Yes, but for a different reason.
Why not a different reason this time?
Deputy Connaughton should not interrupt during priority questions.
The Department, the Minister and Ministers of State are aware of the difficulties in the pig industry. The Minister made Brussels aware of these and it is hoped some support will be forthcoming. We met the compounders and the banks and they have been asked to assist.
Has the Minister of State met the Minister for Finance to obtain some money for pig farmers?
There are export refunds, aids to private storage and a food aid programme for Russia which uses about 100,000 tonnes of pigmeat. The export refund system in place is liberal as are the aids to private storage, yet there has been no great uptake here. I have presided over meetings with curers and producers to encourage them to become involved in private storage and export funds but they have not reacted accordingly. Much the same is happening in the beef sector. The crisis in the north of the country has been identified as being caused by a lack of slaughtering facilities and by developments in other parts of the island. We issued licences to smaller operators to combat that. This means the number of pigs killed has increased substantially in the past three to four months.
However, the problem is worldwide and is not specific to Ireland. Reports in yesterday's papers said production had not reached its maximum in Holland and Denmark, our major competitors. There are about four million pigs in Ireland. North American production will not have reached its peak until March of next year. The Korean and Japanese markets have dried up due to a lack of finance.
The Minister's response to the crisis in the pig sector is insignificant. It is surprising given that the Minister is familiar with the crisis. The veterinary levy was deferred previously.
The Deputy should ask a supplementary question.
I am leading to it. It was suspended previously at a time when there was a crisis in the industry. The crisis now is of far greater proportion. I am not laying the root cause for that at the Minister's door, it is an international crisis. This levy was suspended previously. If Commission approval is required and if a sufficiently energetic case is made to the Commission, I have no doubt it would grant a concession. When the Minister was on this side and there was a crisis in the pig industry, he lambasted the film "Babe" because he was of the opinion it would affect consumption of pork products. Is he aware that RTE intends to show the film during the Christmas season and, if so, perhaps he will make representations to RTE?
For the pig farmers in the Munster area about whom the Deputy is concerned, we have had long extensions of kills by the plants which were influenced by the Department of Agriculture and Food and the pig producers. We have started the kills to alleviate the problem. The aid to private storage has been an attractive scheme for pigmeat but it has not been taken up to any great effect to alleviate the problem. Some £100,000 worth of pigmeat is going to Russia as food aid. Russia took approximately half of the pigmeat of Europe up to the July crisis.