asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries whether it is proposed to expand the present dairy products manufacturing plant at Lansdowne, Limerick; and if he will make a statement outlining the future plans for this plant in the light of present thinking in relation to amalgamation and rationalisation of the creamery industry.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Limerick Dairy Products Plant.
51.
Mr. O'Donnell
My Department are at present examining a proposal which would involve a further increase in the processing capacity of the dairy products manufacturing plant at Lansdowne. Under plans for the reorganisation of the creamery industry, a milk-processing centre for the area will continue to be required.
Mr. O'Donnell
Is the Minister aware of the growing dissatisfaction among creamery milk producers in the region served by the Lansdowne plant? This plant does not appear to have kept pace with developments in the dairy products industry in the same way as have Mitchelstown, Golden Vale in Charleville and Ballyclough in Mallow. Can the Minister give any reason why the Lansdowne plant has not expanded to the same degree as other creameries? Why do the farmers supplying this plant not get the same price as farmers who supply milk to Mitchelstown? The Minister will admit that this is a serious matter? Can he state if this aspect has been examined?
In common with other dairy disposal undertakings, there are obvious disabilities under which this undertaking labours in that it caters for a part of the country which is somewhat less economic from the dairy point of view. As I have stated in my reply, plans for the reorganisation of the dairy industry are being considered and the Lansdowne project is included in this consideration.
Mr. O'Donnell
The Lansdowne plant is located in the centre of an intensive milk-producing area but there is no reason why this plant could not be expanded and become as efficient as others and thereby enable it to pay the farmers the same price as Mitchelstown is paying. This is the crux of the problem.
I will accept that the dairy industry catered for by the Lansdowne plant would benefit by reorganisation. This reorganisation is being considered at the moment.
Would the Minister not agree in regard to present supplies in County Clare going to the Lansdowne plant, that it may be necessary to divert those supplies in order to maintain the proposed skim-milk factory in production? We hope that this factory will be erected in County Clare in the near future.
That is a separate question.
The question of the necessity for a reorganisation in the Clare area is definitely one of high priority in the Department. However, when considering this it is necessary to ensure that the interests of all the milk suppliers and all the people in the industry are considered. If some satisfactory arrangement could be reached with regard to the disposal of milk supplies in County Clare that would give this result, it would have the co-operation of the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.
52.
Mr. O'Donnell
asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries the present position regarding the can manufacturing unit at the Dairy Disposal Company's plant at Lansdowne, Limerick; whether it is proposed to discontinue can manufacturing there; and, if so, why.
In the light of a survey of the can making operations at the Lansdowne factory which was recently carried out by experts engaged for that purpose, it has been decided to continue, on a trial basis, the manufacture there of a limited number of types of cans for the home market trade during the 1971 season. It is intended to re-examine the position at the end of this season with a view to determining to what extent it may be feasible to continue can making operations at the factory for the 1972 season.
Mr. O'Donnell
Is the Minister aware that on 14th March, 1968, the Industrial Research Centre in Dublin carried out an examination of the can making unit in Limerick? The primary recommendation made was that the manufacture of cans should be continued at the Lansdowne plant. Is the Minister aware that this report rejected the idea of the can making operations being discontinued and of cans being obtained from a commercial concern in another part of the country? Can the Minister say why the Dairy Disposal Company did not act on the recommendations in this technical report? The report was carried out under the direction of Dr. Dickenson and a Mr. Bliss, both of whom are highly technically qualified to assess the feasibility of this plant.
I am not aware of the report referred to by the Deputy and his original question did not allude to it. The Deputy and myself are aware of the target of the Lansdowne plant and the farmers who supply it, namely, to sell milk in the most profitable way. The machinery for the manufacture of the cans in Lansdowne is not in good condition and its replacement would require heavy capital investment. The recommendation of the experts, to whom I referred in my reply, is that the manufacturer of certain types of cans be continued for the present and that the other cans be procured elsewhere.
Mr. O'Donnell
Would the Minister undertake to examine the feasibility of the second recommendation made by the Industrial Research Centre in 1968, namely, that in addition to manufacturing cans for requirements at Lansdowne, a newly reorganised can making unit might explore the possibility of manufacturing cans for the local market and even for export? There might be something in this.
My Department's interest in this matter is solely concerned with milk. The manufacture of cans is not a primary concern of my Department only in so far as it concerns the profitable sale of milk. The project about which Deputy O'Donnell is speculating—the establishment of a can making industry—is not one for my Department.
I am calling Question No. 53.