Vol. 422 No. 4
98 Mr. Leonard asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he will give details of the approximate number of jobs which could be produced if all bovine animal hides were fully processed in this country; and whether a survey on this has been carried out.
The IDA have carried out an assessment of the bovine hide sector. They have come to the conclusion that, depending on the degree of processing involved and based on modern systems in the tanning sector a significant potential exists for employment creation in this area.
The IDA have informed me that they are actively pursuing their efforts to increase the degree of processing of bovine hides in Ireland. In reality, however, not all available hides could be expected to be processed in this country because of seasonality and other industry structure factors.
