asked the Minister for Agriculture in view of the effect of the importation of food imports into this country in 1985 amounting to £994 million, the steps the proposes to take to protect the livelihood of Irish growers.
14.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Food Imports.
8.
asked the Minister for Agriculture the plans, if any, he has for the reduction of the country's huge food import bill; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 8 and 14 together. The Deputies will be aware that a number of recent reports concluded that only a relatively small proportion of food imports can be replaced by home produced products and that we should concentrate on those areas where import substitution appears to be practicable.
The main sectors in which import substitution would appear to offer the best prospects of success are potatoes and vegetables. In order to compete with imports there is an urgent need in these sectors for greater co-ordination to meet modern market conditions with emphasis on providing well presented high quality produce in continuous supply over an extended season. My Department have taken various steps such as the introduction of legislation for the registration of growers and packers of potatoes for sale and the provision of grant aid for the grading, packing and storage of potatoes, to bring about better organisation of potato production and marketing and to enable Irish suppliers to compete more effectively with imported produce.
Regarding measures taken in the vegetables sector, I would refer Deputies to a reply to Question No. 166 on 19 March 1986.
With regard to import substitution generally, I should point out that substantial grants are available from grant aiding agencies, such as the IDA, for projects aimed at import substitution. Prospective applicants are required to source the bulk of their raw material requirements in Ireland. Most of these projects would also qualify for further grant aid from FEOGA under Regulation 355/77. However, while State assistance will help in the fight against food imports, in the final analysis, success in this area will depend on the enterprise and initiative of the industry itself in exploiting the opportunities for import substitution.
Would the Minister consider extra incentive grants to encourage people to become actively interested in the various projects, with particular reference to vegetable and fruit growing? I understand the grants offered by the IDA are not attractive.
As well as the IDA grants, producer groups have a grant scheme which is reasonably attractive. We have set up the National Potato Co-operative, and one of the problems experienced initially was to persuade farmers to supply their produce to the co-operative. In the past, successful potato growers had the habit of doing their business with their local supermarkets. It is only within the past six months that the IFA grouping have succeeded in setting up a marketing arm in conjunction with the FII and the Sugar Company. I think they are also involving some other importers. They propose to take over the disused Erin Foods plant at Carlow for the purpose of grading and packaging potatoes.
Is that ware potatoes only?
Yes.
I am appalled at the Minister's response to this problem. Is he aware of its extent? There is £1,000 million worth of food imports coming in. I invite the Minister to stroll down town and look at the ordinary products on the supermarket shelves. Have his working party or ministerial committee come up with any recommendations whatsoever to counter these imports?
A working party set up ——
Three and a half years ago.
—— came up with the answer that 20 per cent to 25 per cent could possibly be produced here. Even here one has problems already referred to in a question today. Irish co-operatives are using imported raw materials. That is the decision of the co-operatives. That is one of the big areas. Another area is the milling industry. We have had talks with the IFA, the millers and co-operatives. In one of the years in which we decided to do something about this, 1985, we hardly produced a bag of millable grain. These are the sorts of problems we are experiencing. The housewife now is looking for fresh vegetables all year round. In the past it was possible to store crops like carrots and then present them in the supermarkets. Now they have to be picked fresh and brought straight to the supermarkets. Geographically we are very limited in the areas where this can be done. We must limit ourselves to frostfree areas. Even on that score we have taken some steps. We have gone into the peninsular area of Kerry where there are 100 acres of crops this year which are proving very successful.
What about the onions in Dungarvan?
The major area at the moment is potato processing, where we are importing about £27 million worth of potato chips. I am having discussions not with one but with two major processors in the hope of getting them to set up here.
Has a single positive step been taken since the committee were set up 3½ years ago? Erin Foods have a responsibility for food processing and they have not applied for one single grant under the FEOGA scheme.
Hear, hear.
We have had closures in Fastnet, Midleton — the Minister's own town — Mallow, right across the board and not one single application has been made for grant aid.
Disgraceful.
I have to remind the Deputy, in his enthusiasm, that both Carlow and Fastnet were closed down by his party when in Government.
They were closed down but they were under the care of Erin Foods.
I must take the Deputy up on that point.
Not one penny was paid under the FEOGA grant scheme.
If the Deputy will listen, I shall tell him what I have done. I have succeeded in reopening East Cork Foods in Midleton and Erin Foods in Mallow. We have formed a new company involving Kinsealy Farms, FII, Wool Farm in the UK and the Irish Sugar Company. We are now taking over both these plants. Already there are 2,500 acres of crops in the ground. Grants are being applied for and are being given. State aid has been given.
It is a bit late in the day. If you go to the restaurant in this House you will find imported foods.
A question.
I call Deputy Kirk.
I have been in office for only a couple of years. The Opposition party were in power for the past 30 years.
The Coalition Government were formed three and a half years ago.
Would the Minister of State not agree that there is a great need to coordinate the various State services in this area? Would he not agree that he has done absolutely nothing to tackle the great difficulties being experienced in this area?
In what area?
In the area of co-ordination of the various State services, advice, research and education. Does the Minister not agree that there is a need to set up specialised marketing units in the area of food production and vegetable production? Does he not further agree that there is a need for commodity teams to tackle the problem and get to the root of it? That would counter most imports and create jobs in our labour intensive industry.
That is exactly what we are doing. The Deputy is not listening. We have set up the National Potato Co-operative and we have set up the National Horticultural Co-operative. Both were initiated and supported by producers and grant aided by us. You could talk about State boards until the cows come home, but the important thing is that we are doing something practical about it. The cropping programme is already laid out for the potato people and the horticultural people are already concentrating on the major area of consumption, which is Dublin. The Dublin Growers have got together and a number of them are now supporting the IFA horticultural grouping. We are doing exactly what the Deputy is saying in order to fill the supermarket shelves with Irish foods.
Would the Minister outline to the House any steps he has taken concerning these semi-State institutions such as the IDA and SFADCo, about their publications on commodity analysis? Is he satisfied that a further publication is needed in this area?
There is a later question which will cover that point. I hope the Deputy will have patience and I shall be dealing with that matter.
(Limerick West): Is the Minister aware that, regardless of what he has said, since he assumed office three and a half years ago imports of foodstuffs have practically doubled?
They have not doubled. I have the figures in front of me.
(Limerick West): They have doubled. This is Deputy Wilson's question and what is the Minister going to do about it?
Would the Deputy let the Minister answer?
We are doing a great deal about it, but things will not happen overnight.
Three and a half years are a long time.
There are free communities where there is free movement of food from one country to another. We are net exporters of almost £2 billion worth of food and are expecting other countries to accept them. We cannot put up a railing around this country. We cannot prevent food from coming in here. We have seasonality problems. At this moment it is very difficult to get fresh vegetables out of the fields. We hear much talk about the suitability of our climate for horticultural products but our climate, taking one year with another, is not all that suitable.
What about the Dungarvan onions?
A final supplementary.
Arising from the Minister's reference to the marketing of potatoes, are his Department encouraging producers to distinguish between suitable food processing potatoes and suitable ware potatoes? Imported ware potatoes, as Deputy Walsh has said, are deplorable. If you spear one of them, you would want an opthalmic surgeon to save you from getting blinded by the acid. These are two absolutely distinct categories, those suitable for ware potatoes being totally unsuitable for food processing. Are the Minister's Department making that distinction and are his advisers encouraging producers to make that distinction, so that what suits the processing industry will be produced by farmers and what suits the ware potato market will be produced by them?
That information is readily available. For the benefit of the Deputy, the tastes for potatoes in different parts of the country are totally different. In the Dublin area a variety called Records is very much in demand, whereas in the southern area Kerrs Pinks are favoured. We are now coming up with varieties which are suited both to the processor and the ware potato market, such as Pentland Dell.
Dell and Pentland Dell.
That is a variety which we are very much cultivating with a view to being ready for our processor, when he comes.
The very final supplementary question.
There is somebody in my area who would like to help.
What is the reason for the large amount of imports? Over the years far too often farmers grew potatoes and vegetables which they had to dump in ditches because they could not sell them. Have the Minister and his Department ever considered the possibility of introducing a minimum guaranteed price for the potato crop?
No.
Is the Minister aware that there are thousands of tonnes of potatoes lying around, with no market for them?
I call Question No. 9.
I should like to answer that question.
You cannot answer it.