Joe Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)

I welcome the Minister of State and congratulate her on her appointment. I hope that she will have good news for us. We are asking that the beet growers of Greencore be responsible for a €25 million restructuring levy in 2006. I want her to report on the recent meeting between the Minister for Agriculture and Food and the European Commissioner for Agriculture. The Minister said publicly that a restructuring levy of €25 million would have to be paid if sugar beet is grown in 2006. If this is not paid, then further uncertainty would surround the future of the industry. The Minister must act at this crucial period to convince beet growers that this is a now-or-never scenario. I urge farmer representatives to participate and ensure that sugar will be manufactured in Mallow this year. I understand that Fry-Cadbury's in Rathmore is importing French and English sugar to prepare for the future. If sugar is not manufactured here, other customers will also prepare to shift allegiance to other sugar producers.

The Irish sugar quota is just 1% of the total EU quota. A total of 3,700 farmers grow sugar beet and they receive €75 million annually from the production of 72,000 acres of beet crop. The Mallow plant processes 1.2 million tonnes of sugar. I hope that we do not have to say that the Fianna Fáil and Progressive Democrats Government was responsible for closing down the sugar factory owing to lack of effort on its part. The sugar growers to whom I have spoken have told me that they want to keep growing the crop. The workers in Mallow have a right to know what the future holds for them. That depends on the Government and Greencore. The chairman of Greencore recently said at its annual meeting that the company paid £2.1 million when it took over the sugar industry in 1991.

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