Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein)
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Question 450: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views on the disparity between the price paid to fishermen for their catch and the price charged to consumers (details supplied). [12593/12]

Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
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Question 466: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views on a matter (details supplied) regarding fair trade for fishermen; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12830/12]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 450 and 466 together.

While I would like to see fishermen receive a fair price for their catch, I have no role in determining the price they receive from processors, retailers or other agents. Like other parts of the food industry, the price received by primary producers in the seafood sector is determined by the market. A number of market factors may influence the price received by fishermen for their catch. These include demand for the product and the available supply, the number of intermediaries in the supply chain and their relative power, the extent to which fishermen collaborate through co-ops or otherwise to increase their bargaining power, the selling price for the final product in retail outlets or in export markets and the extent to which the value is added to the raw material to maximise selling price and last but not least, the relative profitability of the Irish processing sector compared to foreign competitors.

In relation to the profitability of the processing sector, Food Harvest 2020 recognised that the sector was fragmented, lacking in scale, uncompetitive in terms of production costs, too focussed on export of commodity products and constrained by inconsistent supply of raw material. BIM, with Enterprise Ireland and Udaras na Gaeltachta, is working to address each of these issues. Grant aid support of €1.749m under the Seafood Processing Business Investment Scheme was provided in 2011 to improve competitiveness and help the companies concerned develop export markets for high value added products.

The lack of scale in the Irish processing sector is recognised as a cause of higher production costs, lower investment in strategic areas of planning, business development, marketing and product innovation, all of which adversely affect profitability. The average net profitability of Irish seafood processing companies stands at 0.94% compared to between 4% and 6% for our European competitors. BIM is working closely senior managers of Irish seafood processing companies on strategies to address these issues and is making available a range of technical and financial supports to assist the sector to modernise and become more competitive.

I would hope and expect that a modern, efficient, competitive and innovative processing sector, selling value added products, differentiated from our competitors by quality and sustainability, would ultimately increase demand for fish from Irish fishermen and help assure them of a fair price for their catch.