Consumers urged to switch to Irish porridge to help boost economy

Consumers could give the economy a major boost by eating Irish porridge instead of imported breakfast cereals — so says Andrew Doyle, Fine Gael TD for Wicklow and East Carlow and chairman of the Oireachtas Agriculture, Food and the Marine Committee.

The imported cereal market is worth an estimated €115m.

Mr Doyle said: “It is estimated €400,000 is spent on breakfast cereal every day during September — when families regularise their breakfast eating habits with the resumption of school. There are many other imported foods such as oven chips and potatoes that could be replaced with Irish products. I urge consumers to check the country of origin label to ensure that local Irish produce gets to the table. Love Irish Food has said that if every household regularly bought two more Irish products in their weekly shop, it would be worth €300m to the economy.”

He also urged consumers to make the switch for health reasons.

“The traditional breakfast bowl of porridge or muesli made of locally produced oats, costs a fraction of the imported breakfast cereals and is nutritionally better than most other cereals. Furthermore, buying Irish porridge supports Irish jobs and helps reduce the cost of imports.”