Mr. Jason Whooley:

There is the matter of the physical infrastructure required to transport the raw material to the market. Allied to that is the route to market as in the vehicle - not a physical vehicle but the business model - that takes the product to market. We would focus very much on the physical infrastructure at the processing site. For example, we assist companies financially to introduce new machinery that would add to the shelf life of some of that raw material. Rather than trying to ship live raw material out of the country, we can develop value-added products with these companies to ensure such raw material has a longer shelf life and to help those companies access greater and more distant markets.

Second, regarding the commercial vehicle or the route to market, we have a very successful route to market scheme available to all Irish seafood companies and collectives. I gave the example earlier of where we had four companies throughout this country dealing with shellfish, specifically live crabs, which now export as one block to a Chinese market of 1.3 billion consumers, which they would not have had a hope of doing as individual companies. We also have two companies dealing with live inshore products doing something similar. That is the type of commercial vehicle we can help facilitate through our schemes and through the expert advice from our staff in Bord Iascaigh Mhara.