Agriculture: accounts for 10% of GDP; principal crops - turnips, barley, potatoes, sugar beets, wheat; livestock - meat and dairy products; 85% self-sufficient in food; food shortages include bread grain, fruits, vegetables
Illicit drugs: transshipment point for hashish from North Africa to
the UK and Netherlands
Economic aid:
donor: ODA commitments (1980-89), $90 million
Currency: 1 Irish pound (#Ir) = 100 pence
Exchange rates: Irish pounds (#Ir) per US$1 - 0.6420 (January 1995), 0.6676 (1994), 0.6816 (1993), 0.5864 (1992), 0.6190 (1991), 0.6030 (1990)
Fiscal year: calendar year
@Ireland:Transportation
Railroads:
total: 1,947 km
broad gauge: 1,947 km 1.600-m gauge (36 km electrified; 485 km double
track)
Highways:
total: 92,327 km
paved: 86,787 km (32 km of expressways)
unpaved: gravel, crushed stone 5,540 km (1992)
Inland waterways: limited for commercial traffic