Feargal Quinn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

It has been a joy to hear the extent of the work the Minister of State, Deputy Sherlock, is undertaking. He obviously will not have much time on his hands during the six months of our Presidency. I invited the Taoiseach to meet the board of EuroCommerce who were here last Friday. They represent the 6 million shops in Europe, the wholesalers and the international trade. They came specifically to Ireland because we are hosting the Presidency and they wanted to hear what target had been set. The Taoiseach was very impressive and gave us a great deal of encouragement as to what was going to happen.

The two areas of concern were very clear and in the course of his address, the Minister of State, Deputy Sherlock has touched on them a number of times. Can we manage to ensure that the regulations we introduce do not stay in place longer than they have to? We are competing with the rest of the world. In many cases, countries have sunset clauses, so that when they introduce a regulation it dies after a specified period. Is it possible that we could do more in that area so that the regulations that are being introduced do not have to stay in place any longer than they must? Other countries, certainly the BRIC countries, seem to have gained an advantage on us in this area. The point was made very strongly by them.

The production of food was the other area of discussion. Do I get a sense there is less enthusiasm for genetically modified foods in Europe and that other countries such as Brazil will take the lead from us, in particular in regard to foodstuffs? If we are unwilling with science and technology to innovate in genetically modified food, we are likely to be left behind. It would appear to me that is likely to happen.

The State must create the environment for the entrepreneurs. The Minister of State, Deputy Sherlock said that but I question whether we are doing enough. Is there still an assumption that the job of Government is to do that rather than to think the Government's job is to create the environment so that enterprise can do it? That is the area that we are in danger of losing out on to other countries and other parts of the world.