asked the Minister for Fisheries and Forestry the volume and value of fish imports in 1984 and to date in 1985; and the efforts he is making to substitute home produced fish products for these imports.
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - Fish Imports.
21.
Imports of fish products, excluding fish meal in 1984 amounted to 26,476 tonnes at a value of £29.1 million. The comparable figures for the period January to August of 1985 which is the latest period for which the information is available were 17,019 tonnes and £22.1 million respectively.
An Bord Iascaigh Mhara have recently increased their promotional work on the domestic market and are undertaking a programme to encourage increased home consumption of fresh fish and to help Irish fish processors to secure a larger share of the home market particularly for fish products which can be manufactured here. Meetings with supermarkets are also being arranged by the Minister of State, at my Department, Deputy D'Arcy, with a view to encouraging them to sell more Irish processed fish products.
Is it not a disgrace that a maritime nation like ours should be importing so much fish having regard to the cost of those imports and also to the very important factor of the extremely high rate of unemployment? Would he not agree also that more action should be taken by the Government through their agencies to ensure that this position is redressed? The Minister has told us that fish imports in 1984 amounted to 27,000 tonnes at a value of £29.1 million and that up to the end of August this year the value of fish products imported amounted to £22.1 million. Is the Minister satisfied that everything possible is being done and every effort made to redress this position? Will he ensure that his Department and the many State agencies concerned will set to work immediately in this regard?
The Deputy may rest assured that I am making and will continue to make every effort with my Department to ensure that the result of the talks will be achieved. We are very backward in the fish processing area. We have been very slow to make strides in secondary processing particularly. I am talking about the preparation of fish products up to the point of cooking. That is an area that we have not been developing to the extent that I should like to see it developed. My Department can go so far and we can catch enough fish to enable us to reach the high level of development that is desired but we are talking here about private investment being prepared to invest its money. Private investors can avail of the various grants from the other agencies such as the IDA or Údarás na Gaeltachta, as the case might be. However, I cannot force people to invest in projects in which they do not wish to invest.