Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
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100. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide significant funding to assist the revival of Ireland's sugar beet industry in 2015; his 2015 plan for the restarting of what has previously been a very important Industry here; the actions he has already taken to facilitate the return of sugar production to Ireland in 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48709/14]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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By way of explanation I would like to give the Deputy a short note on the background to this issue. In 2011 I met with two separate groups which had conducted feasibility studies into the possibility of establishing a new sugar/bioethanol facility in the country. The figures published by the interested groups who are investigating the possibility of building a new facility, indicated that the overall capital costs involved could range from €250 million to €400 million, depending on what type of facility would be constructed. I informed both groups at the time, and many times since in the Dáil and through the media, that any venture to develop a combined sugar/bioethanol production facility in Ireland would have to be a viable commercial proposition and supported by a business case which is sufficiently robust to attract the funding from investors for the very substantial capital investment required. I clearly informed both groups at the time that it was my job to look for agreement at EU level to allow for the growing of sugar beet for the manufacture of sugar, at the earliest possible date.

In this connection, I secured agreement as part of the overall CAP reform package at the last EU Council of Agriculture Ministers, which I chaired in June 2013, to abolish all sugar quotas by 30 September 2017.

This agreement removes, with effect from 1 October 2017, the current EU quota barrier for operators in Ireland or other Member States, wishing to re-establish a sugar industry. At the time, this agreement was welcomed by those parties who are interested in seeking to re-establish a sugar industry here. It is now up to those same entities to move the project forward and to garner sufficient commercial and financial support to turn their plans into a viable reality.