Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister for his reply. It is access rather than Axis that we should be talking about here today. Is it not the case that there are many food businesses that are looking to expand or start up? Some ten food businesses in my county are waiting for funding under the LEADER programme. Would the Minister agree that the LEADER programme has been extremely successful in the past in creating indigenous jobs in the food sector? The Minister's colleague, Deputy Fitzgerald, stated in the House last May that she believed progress would be made in this area in the immediate future. We are now a number of months down the road and that progress has not been made, which is costing jobs. From a retail perspective, this industry is worth €475 million to the Irish economy. Surely, we must find some type of a mechanism to release those funds.

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