Ms Anne Randles:

I will take the questions in the order in which they were asked. I apologise if we miss out on a few, but I will answer a few, after which my other colleagues will come in on some of the other areas.

On the first question from Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív on the exports of the Irish Dairy Board, we showed a slide to demonstrate that we account for 60% of total dairy exports. We are a significant exporter of Irish cheese; probably 80% of total Irish cheese exports pass through the Irish Dairy Board. A significant proportion, perhaps 70%, of total butter exports also goes through it. As members can see, it really is synonymous with the Kerrygold brand. While the Irish Dairy Board is less involved on the milk powder side, more than half of milk powder exports still go through it. That is the general profile of our exporting pattern. We are not involved in some areas, the most obvious one probably being the infant formula business outside Ireland. There is a much greater focus on consumer products such as butter and cheese, as well as the dairy ingredients side of these two businesses. The board certainly is the majority exporter, significantly more so in the case of butter and cheese.

The Deputy asked whether, if there were to be the necessary capacity and research and development, we could find markets for the additional products. The message we wish to convey to members is that we certainly can. We believe strongly that we are on target to meet our commitments, which we perceive to be developing the markets for the additional milk that will be produced, as well as the additional dairy products. It is an important focus for us in respect of our strategic plan and we believe we are on track in developing these markets. To be specific, they are probably more the emerging markets, that is, the new areas in which demand is growing most. As to whether there are markets for the products we produce, yes there are. I believe representatives of IBEC appeared before the joint committee last week and gave these figures also. The basic fundamentals of the dairy markets are positive. The message is positive in that overall, globally, growth in demand for dairy products is exceeding supply. In that sense, this is a demand-driven market for us and we believe we can capture these markets for Irish dairy products. While there is greater growth potential through the brand in our core markets, equally we must develop the new markets in the emerging areas. That is the major focus of our strategy, as the chairman mentioned to the joint committee.

There was a question on China and whether there is potential there. There is, undoubtedly, potential there for Irish dairy exports. Perhaps China is known more as a market for whole milk powder. As matters stand, Ireland exports a considerable amount of whey. As for there being potential to grow the market, we perceive it more to be on the branded product side. The main problem is that, unlike New Zealand, Ireland does not have a free trade agreement with China. This puts us at a competitive disadvantage, in that New Zealand has preferential market access which, obviously, puts all non-New Zealand product at a disadvantage.

A question was asked about South America. Our focus is on where there is real growth in demand. We identified this much more in Africa than in South America which, to a large extent, already is supplied from within. Brazil is an obvious case in point, as it is a significant producer of dairy products and more or less self-sufficient. Collectively, were we to take together all of these countries as a region, it is self-sufficient unlike, for example, Africa and Asia, which is the reason the target must be centred on these continents, as opposed to South America.