Mary Ann O'Brien (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Buckley for an excellent presentation. Coming from a small sector of the food industry, I have always admired the brand. One can go into a supermarket in the middle of nowhere in Florida and see that pound of butter on the shelf, which is no mean feat.

One of the delegates might provide greater clarity on the vision for the board's turnover in 2015, 2018 and 2020 with reference to the Harvest 2020 targets. To develop one of Deputy Martin Heydon's questions, does that turnover have a reliance on capital expenditure?

Deputy Martin Heydon is looking to the board to open a research and development centre of excellence in Ireland, he hopes in the Naas area. Why not? I heard Kerry Group representatives being interviewed on radio a few nights ago and it was not just because they loved Ireland that they located here. It was done from a business perspective.

In dreaming the dream is there any chance or aspiration that the Irish Dairy Board might build such a centre in Ireland?

Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív mentioned the concept of "co-opetition". Will the delegates expand on what is meant by it? I may be moving into the territory of Mr. Aidan Cotter of Bord Bia who is due to appear before the joint committee later this afternoon and to whom I greatly look forward to hearing. However, I reiterate the Irish Dairy Board has enjoyed such amazing success and has such an amazing reach worldwide. Imagine if it really engaged in "co-opetition" by mixing the meat and dairy sectors and even the private Kerrygold brand. Imagine if such a mix was possible because, as the professors from Harvard told members one day, when Mr. Cotter had organised a briefing on the Food Harvest 2020 and Pathways for Growth reports, although Ireland is a tiny speck, it is the grass-fed cattle centre of the world. Who else has grass-fed cattle and milk production in such abundance? What if this new word in the dictionary, "co-opetition", could be used and we really were to work together? I would love to hear the delegates expand on these thoughts.

As the board is so important to the country, I would like to hear a little more about its risk assessment policy. What if certain things go wrong in its sector or, imagining the unthinkable, if something were to go wrong in respect of Irish food safety? What level of support does the Irish Dairy Board receive from the European Union?