asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries how new EEC rules will affect the Irish honey industry.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Honey Industry.
27.
EEC Council Directive 74/409/EEC of 22nd July, 1974, on the harmonisation of the laws of the member states relating to honey lays down standards of composition and purity for honey offered for sale and prescribes the main information that must appear on the packages or labels. These provisions should be beneficial to the Irish honey industry.
Is it not true that some Irish-produced honey does not comply with the requirements of the EEC and that these regulations may bring about a situation in which we will have to import even more honey, a product in which we should be self-sufficient?
The amount of honey produced in Ireland is only about 200 tons and the consumption is about 1,000 tons, so we have to import the bulk of our honey requirements.
Does the Parliamentary Secretary not think we could expand this industry quite considerably?
Quite so. There is a home market for 800 additional tons of honey if we were in a position to provide it.
Have the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries any proposals to make this industry more attractive to people?
The Department are most anxious that we should produce our own supplies at home. Local authority bodies, such as committees of agriculture, also try to focus attention on the desirability of increasing our honey stocks. Both the Department and the committees of agriculture have a special interest in this question.
The remaining questions will appear in tomorrow's Order Paper.