asked the Minister for Agriculture whether he is aware that the market for producers of ware potatoes is in a disastrous state at present, with £25 a ton being offered to producers for ware potatoes for export from Donegal; and the steps that can be taken to help ware potato producers by ensuring that excessive imports from third countries, as happened last year, are stopped this year at least between May and July.

The prices being paid by Irish Potato Marketing Limited for ware potatoes for export range from £40 to £50 per tonne depending on variety. While I do not have details of other ware exports I understand that prices are generally substantially higher than the figure mentioned by the Deputy.

As regards imports of potatoes from third countries. I have decided to make an order under the Agricultural Products (Regulation of Import) Act, 1938, to regulate such imports.

When is this order likely to be made and what form of control will be imposed on imports?

The order is being drafted at present and I hope it will have effective control. It will be on the basis of a licensing system which will allow imports only if the market supply situation would warrant it.

Why was such action not taken last year in view of the very serious situation which then prevailed? The Minister consistently refused to take action. How has it now become possible to take such action?

We have been examining the question for some time and this is what I have now decided to do. Is the Deputy unhappy?

I am wondering why action was not taken last year which would have saved many people a lot of trouble.

Will this order apply to imports from countries inside and outside the EEC.

It will apply to third country imports. I am not quite positive about EEC potatoes but I imagine we are not really affected by them. It was potatoes from Cyprus and the Canaries which caused the problem last year. In the absence of a common organisation of the potato market there are still some measures we can take. Because of the operation of the Plant Varieties Directive last May we were prevented from stopping many of these imports from EEC countries and this was due to disease problems.

A final supplementary from Deputy FitzGerald.

A delay of a year has occurred and I would ask whether the Minister is aware that when an inverse situation arose during the period of the National Coalition Government and there was a shortage of potatoes we took action within a fortnight, cutting through all the red tape.

I am not so aware.