Joe Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)

In 1990 I was the only Deputy on this side of the House to oppose the Fianna Fáil policy to privatise the sugar industry. Section 2 of the legislation at that time provided a golden share for the Minister for Agriculture and Food which would give the Minister a say in what the sugar company could do under the Greencore regime. The Minister should tell us clearly whether she thinks Mallow sugar factory will be producing sugar beyond 2008 and if the decision hinges on whether the IFA will accept the compensation package. The IFA appears to be dictating the terms in this regard.

The factory at Mallow has produced sugar since 1933, that is 40 years before we joined the Common Market and 40 years before a subsidy was ever paid to beet growers. How come we cannot do that now? The Irish sugar industry depends on 72,000 acres for the production of the beet crop. The Mallow plant processes 1.2 million tonnes of sugar and under the Fianna Fáil-Progressive Democrats regime that will be no more. I say to the Minister that this matter is not over yet.

The decision of the EU Council of Ministers to overhaul the sugar industry begs serious questions about the negotiating position of the Minister for Agriculture and Food in these talks. Why is there such uncertainty surrounding the future of the industry when it is clearly profitable and viable? Why have a ridiculous situation, whereby the IFA president, Mr. Pádraig Walsh, has accused Greencore of planning a massive cash grab in compensation for the shutdown of the Irish industry while the growers of north Cork are holding firm in favour of retaining a viable industry?

It is ridiculous that the Minister will not be able to tell us until the Council of Ministers meets in 20 February next whether she or the Irish sugar industry must pay the €25 million restructuring levy if a crop is grown in 2006. The Minister has given an assurance that there will be no compulsory growing of sugar beet in 2006 in order to qualify for the restructuring fund. Added to this is the EU Commission warning that growers must reduce their production quotas in 2006 on the basis of overproduction. Does this mean that the Commission will seek to reduce production quotas for 2006-07?

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