Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 8 March 2012
167 Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will give consideration to the requests made to him to assist the pig production sector particularly in view of the rise in the price of feed and the difficulties accessing adequate credit facilities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13417/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am aware of the concerns currently being expressed by the pig production sector, particularly in relation to feed costs and the availability of credit. The pig sector remains the third largest individual component of the agri-food sector, with production, prices and exports all growing significantly during 2011. Notwithstanding this, high feed costs, most notably cereals and compound feed remain an issue. Pig producers are especially affected by the increase in cereal prices since June 2009, given that cereals account for 70% of feed.
Prices of pigmeat and of course feed are ultimately determined by demand and supply considerations. For my part, I will ask my officials to continue to explore with the European Commission all available market supports when circumstances require them, to ameliorate the worst effects of price volatility. Indeed last year's Aid to Private Storage Scheme for pigmeat played a significant role in putting a floor under pigmeat prices at that time. This, together with release of cereal stocks from intervention, improved the situation somewhat at that time.
I have held a number of meetings with representatives from the Irish Banking Federation to discuss the issues of credit and financing difficulties and have asked my officials to arrange a further meeting as soon as possible. I can assure the Deputy that my Department and its agencies will continue to work closely with the industry to ensure that it can continue to develop and grow in accordance with the targets in the Food Harvest 2020 Report.
