Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to discuss the findings of the European Court of Auditors report, even it was difficult this morning to secure an agreement to have a debate on it. It is regrettable that the Tánaiste who was Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food at that time, is not here.

Facts are facts and questions still remain unanswered, with all due respect to the Minister's contribution. The facts of the dismantling of the Irish sugar industry are there for all to see but a number of questions must be asked. Did the Government and the Minister of the day carry out due diligence as the guardians of the public interest - notwithstanding what the Minister said about the legal opinion on the entitlement of the then Minister to get involved in operational matters - on the information submitted to the European Commission by Greencore? Was Ireland's unique position in that it had only one recently modernised plant on which the growers were completely dependent defended properly? Was that case made strongly or not at all? Was the fact that Ireland was going to become totally dependent on imported sugar for a strategic product for the agri-food businesses, chemical industries and as an ingredient in many feed products considered? Was the fact that sugar beet was a critical crop in the tillage sector considered, and in particular for malt barley producers, who faced challenges with the introduction of the nitrates directive which, thankfully, has been somewhat addressed? Was that case made both to Greencore and the European Commission? Was any consideration given at that time to the fact that there was a significant advantage to using sugar as a source of bioethanol, which would have placed further demands on supplies worldwide? In 2006 this was already well flagged and there was a spike in oil prices at the time. After Ireland renounced its entire quota for sugar production, the EU restructuring fund ended up benefiting mostly private industry shareholders. Unfortunately, this is a classic tale of Celtic tiger Fianna Fáil - the national interest, the growers and the workers were all abandoned in the interests of the enrichment of an elite few.

Ireland is now importing €99 million worth of sugar, which does not includemolasses and other sugar by-products for the chemical industry, in contrast to six years ago when we were an exporter of sugar products. The question remains as to who were the main beneficiaries of the EU compensation fund of €145 million, though the Minister has broadened that out to include other factors. Why did the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food decide not to defend the national interest and the tillage farmers in the sugar industry and allow the closure of all the sugar processing plant capacity in Ireland?

My final question relates to the European Court of Auditors report. Has the reform of the European sugar market achieved its objectives? For the European consumer the answer has to be 'No'. Point 63 of the report states that most of the cost savings due to price reductions will be added to the profit margin of industrial producers. For the developing world producer, the answer to the question I posed is 'No'. For Ireland, the answer is definitely 'No'. As I said at the outset, spin is spin but facts are facts.

I call on the Minister for Agriculture to revisit this issue and initiate an investigation with the Commission with a view to re-establishing the sugar industry in Ireland. When we consider all the facts and the changed circumstances surrounding our competitiveness, the Irish Government and the European Commission owe this much to the growers and to the people involved in this industry.

An article written by Dr. Martin Thelen from Bonn some years ago states:

What are the perspectives for the future?

... there will still be opportunities for European sugar production if every available means is used to compensate for the disadvantages associated ... In a global comparison, the European sugar ... [industry have] considerable ... and significant competitive advantage. ...

Moreover, the movement towards renewable resources could prove particularly interesting for the European sugar beet industry, opening up perspectives, for example, in the cultivation of sugar beet as a raw material for ethanol production.

These are not my words but the words of an objective observer.

There is no reason we cannot re-establish the sugar industry. It was re-established previously when Siúcre Éireann was established in the 1920s. That was not the first establishment of the sugar industry here. It can be re-established again, reconfigured for today's environment and competitive considerations. There is nothing to stop us having a sugar processing plant and a bioethanol production unit on the one site. We have a biofuels obligation of 3% or 4%, which is currently constituted of imported bioethanol. It makes no sense not to have a sugar industry when we could have a thriving one.

See this speech in context