Bernard J. Durkan
Ceist:150 Mr. J. Durkan asked the Taoiseach the amount of potatoes imported for the potato chip industry in 1998; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2249/99]
Written Answers. - Potato Imports.
The latest month for which information is available is September 1998. The table gives the imports of potatoes for the year 1997 and the nine month period January-September 1998. It is not possible from the trade statistics to identify how these imports are further processed.
Imports of Potatoes
|
Potatoes |
1997 |
£000 |
tonnes |
January-September 1998 |
£000 |
tonnes |
|
Frozen |
28,310 |
57,476 |
25,248 |
46,738 |
||
|
Fresh |
7,355 |
37,542 |
11,455 |
49,853 |
||
|
Preserved |
5,862 |
3,995 |
4,316 |
2,992 |
||
|
Flour and meal |
196 |
129 |
235 |
121 |
||
|
Flakes |
170 |
145 |
176 |
176 |
||
|
Dried |
67 |
58 |
35 |
38 |
||
|
Total |
41,959 |
99,345 |
41,465 |
99,919 |
Note: It should be noted that, overall, approximately 7 per cent of trade is unclassified by commodity. The unclassified trade consists mainly of intra-EU estimates, including estimates for traders below the import survey threshold of £100,000.