Mr. Joe O'Flynn:

I take the Senator's point. The company has undertaken considerable consumer research. The use of green is interesting in the sense that it is an identity that is of major importance to Ireland Inc. The work done in building the Kerrygold brand has been extremely relevant in that regard. The work Bord Bia is doing on the Origin Green programme is important in terms of Ireland taking ownership of that green space which we can justifiably claim.

A number of speakers raised issues about investment in research and development. We all recognise that the level of investment in research and development in Ireland is probably not adequate. The announcement of investment by the Kerry Group last week was a major plus for the country and the industry. The Irish Dairy Board is a sales and marketing organisation; it is not involved in primary processing. The focus of our innovation thrust is identifying market needs and ramping up investment in developing consumer insights and better understanding category management and shopper behaviour in order that we can better identify areas to which investment needs to be directed.

In terms of primary research, some excellent work is being done in Ireland. The capability in Teagasc and the universities is world class. The industry is seeking to ensure a greater focus on market need rather than basic research at this stage. From our perspective, it is essential to build this capability to gain a better understanding of consumers and ingredient users.

As to whether we have abandoned the shamrock, the Senator is correct that this matter was the subject of a court case in the 1970s. We lost the case.