Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he is satisfied regarding the competitiveness of Irish food exports on world markets; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56262/12]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The National Competitiveness Scorecard, which benchmarks Ireland’s competitiveness against key competitors, has indicated that between April 2008 and April 2012, Ireland’s nominal Harmonised Competitiveness Index (HCI) fell by 7.6%, while the real HCI fell by almost 15.25%.

(The nominal HCI is a nominal effective exchange rate for the Irish economy that reflects, on a trade weighted basis, movements in the exchange rate vis-a vis 56 trading partners. The real HCI takes into account relative price changes along with exchange rate movements )