Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 11 and 16 together.

Ireland is more than 150% self-sufficient in pigmeat with the result that export values reached almost €400 million last year, an increase of 18% compared to 2010. The industry supports more than 7,000 jobs in farming, milling, processing and ancillary services. It is the third largest component of Irish agriculture after dairy and beef. The sector reaches into rural communities the length and breadth of the country, especially in Cavan and Cork.

The UK remains the largest single export market while the value of exports to international markets grew significantly during 2011. Pigmeat remains the most consumed meat worldwide and the substantial trade surplus in pigmeat in Ireland and the EU leaves us well placed to avail of developing opportunities in international markets, with China being particularly attractive in this respect.

For the information of the House, I met a representative of a very large pig and pork company from China recently and he told me that China slaughters 650 million pigs a year. That will give Members an idea of the scale of the markets we are trying to get into.

The importance of the domestic market to Irish pig producers must also be acknowledged. More than half our output is consumed domestically, which is unusual for agricultural products, and consumption increased by 7% during 2011.

Food Harvest 2020 targets a 50% growth in the value of output over the next nine years and factors such as improvements in sow productivity and growing the size of the national herd will help to meet this target. While organic production has become more popular in recent years, it remains very much a niche market for the production of pigmeat. The vast majority of Irish pigmeat is produced through traditional methods with approximately 380 commercial herds supplying the bulk of the output. There are approximately 70 organic pig producers and these are relatively small scale operators.

Organic production and labelling of organic products is controlled by European and national regulations. The EU legislation allows member states to use private inspection bodies to carry out the inspection and licensing system of organic operators. There are currently five approved organic control bodies - Organic Trust Ltd, the Irish Organic Farmers' and Growers' Association, IOFGA, the Institute of Marketology, IMO, Global Trust Certification Ltd, GTC, and the Biodynamic Agricultural Association of the UK, BDAA.

The labelling of free range pigmeat is not covered by any legislation unlike organic produce. There are a very small number of pig producers currently styling themselves as free range. As we are running out of time I would like to take some questions.

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