Michael Conaghan (Dublin South Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

My sense is that the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Eamon Gilmore, is combining those two roles very creatively and competently.

Let me comment on the success of the food sector in the export markets. By its nature food requires a great deal of regulation. I know some have raised the issue of over-regulation but by the nature of the product this should be expected. The levels of regulation do not seem to be inhibiting Irish food in the export market because it is very successful. Other categories of commercial activity are not exporting or are underperforming. Are there particular skills that other companies could learn from the success of Irish food? Is it a matter of exporting techniques or getting out into the world and being more proactive? Irish food must have some X factor which other companies could learn from.

I read an article in The Irish Times last year which drew attention to the fact there were entire regions in France where Irish goods and services had no penetration at all. That came as a shock to me. The article was raising this as an important issue for export strategy . What is the rationale of opening up the ground work for our exports?