asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what discussions have taken place between his Department and the Ministry of Agriculture in Northern Ireland about the possibility of enabling the British Sugar Corporation to assist the development of a beet sugar industry in Northern Ireland.

The Ministry of Agriculture in Northern Ireland has recently discussed this matter with my Department. However, the Government's existing commitments to find a market for home-produced and Commonwealth sugar do not allow room for any increase in sugar beet acreage in the United Kingdom, whether in Northern Ireland or elsewhere.