Vol. 427 No. 6
245 Mr. D. Wallace asked the Minister for Tourism and Trade the main steps being taken to inform relevant Irish manufacturers of the specific potential for developing their business through import substitution; and the procedures in place to monitor progress being made in this regard.
246 Mr. D. Wallace asked the Minister for Tourism and Trade the percentage of our annual imports which could be sourced in this country; the ten main such products/commodities; and the annual value of imports in each case.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 245 and 246 together.
The Government is anxious to encourage Irish firms to maximise the business opportunities available to them in the domestic market. While general import statistics are available from the Central Statistics Office, it is recognised that these alone do not give sufficient detail to enable specific market opportunities to be identified. To help companies identify these opportunities An Bord Tráchtála is currently undertaking the first ever comprehensive sector-by-sector analysis of the competition facing Irish manufacturers in the home market. This new initiative involves the development of unique import statistical databases from which both short and long term opportunities can be identified with particular focus on areas which display high growth rates and reasonably large import values. I recently launched the first report in the series which identified 40 new product opportunities in the food and drink sector. A survey of the building materials sector will be published later this year.
On an ongoing basis, the programmes and services of An Bord Tráchtála's Ireland Division are directed at enhancing the links between Irish sellers and Irish buyers. They provide business sourcing services to large-scale industry, public purchasers and retailing groups together with matching support for potential Irish suppliers. Irish suppliers are informed and invited to participate in An Bord Tráchtála's home market activities through direct mail and press announcements.
