Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will start by responding to the questions put by Deputy Ó Cuív.

The export of Irish food, a trend that started about six years ago, has kept going. We have increased our exports to France by 21%; to the Netherlands by 43%; to Germany by 34%; to Belgium by 23%; to Sweden by 15%; to Denmark by 43%; and to Poland by 72%. One or two member states, Italy and Spain are down a bit in value. The growth in food export to the UK is up by 24% in value. One the things that is really adding to our numbers this year, despite the fact that dairy prices are down, and dairy is the most valuable export followed very tightly by beef, is the exchange rates. When sterling is as strong as it is against the euro, it makes Irish product very good value in terms of competitiveness. One will see many of our suppliers into UK retailers will be upping their numbers and having very strong years even though the price in sterling might not have changed hugely the exchange rate has changed and therefore Irish companies are much more competitive versus their counterparts either north of the Border or in the UK.

The market to Africa has grown by 46%, America is up 36%, Asia is up 122% driven by China. To be honest dairy exports to China have gone from roughly €60 million to nearly €400 million in that period, mainly around infant formula.

Even though China is buying much less powder this year, it is probably buying more volume from Ireland this year than last year because we have helped to insulate ourselves from the trade in basic powders by having much more infant formula from companies like Wyeth, Abbott, and Danone, and new commercial propositions like the partnership between Beingmate and Kerry Group, producing product for the Chinese market in Charleville. This is a direct dividend for a rural town like Charleville, producing a product for the Chinese market, a very high-end, valuable market, selling for about $45 a tin or such like. It is a good example of how a rural community can benefit from a growing market.

Some people think about China and they just think about the big companies. There is a reason we are seeing €120 million being spent on dairy-drying facilities in Mallow, while near Waterford Portwe are seeing nearly €200 million, in Charleville €50 million, and another €40 million in Mitchelstown. All of these rural economic drivers are built on the back of these markets. The direct question Deputy Ó Cuív asked was whether this was driven by value or volume. It is driven mainly by value. For example, seafood has increased in value export terms by almost 40% in the last four years.