Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Moynihan for raising this matter. As he knows, I have recently returned from leading a successful trade mission to China in co-operation with Bord Bia. The trade mission showcased, as we would expect, the very best of Irish food and drink to key existing and potential trade customers in China.

As a country, we have a hard-earned and well-deserved reputation as a supplier of safe and high quality infant formula to international markets, including China. It was our sixth most important agrifood export market last year, with total exports to China of €722 million, of which infant formula nutrition accounted for €266 million. The value of infant formula nutrition exports to China has reduced in recent years, largely due to the falling birth rate in China as well as the fact there has been growing import substitution by Chinese infant formula companies.

China’s demographics are changing significantly and Irish companies are responding to new market opportunities, for example by producing specialised nutrition products aimed at adults, including sports nutrition, and dairy nutrition products aimed at providing a healthy source of calcium and other nutrients for older persons. I was glad to launch two of those products from Irish companies last week when I was in China. I am also aware of the growing demand among Chinese trade customers for quality cheese products and other dairy ingredients from Ireland. There is real potential there, as I saw last week.

The research and development expertise available from Teagasc, together with the innovation supports provided by Enterprise Ireland and, importantly, the quality of our grass-fed and quality assured milk supply from Irish family farms are all significant in attracting and retaining multinational infant nutrition companies to locate and develop in here. My Department regularly engages with the infant formula sector on a range of regulatory and other issues. Over the period of Covid-19, my officials engaged remotely with their Chinese counterparts to ensure that interested Irish infant formula manufacturers were able to continue to comply with the detailed registration requirements for export to China during that time.

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