Feargal Quinn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and his team. The business of the Competitiveness Council is European competitiveness. One of the areas in which Ireland is in big danger is energy and I ask the Minister to speak about what we can do ourselves. Britain has made a decision about fracking, a subject we have not discussed. The Irish Sea will be the location of fracking. Recently published figures show that Ireland will be one of the largest importers of energy supplies in future years. We can do something about this on our own, rather than relying on others in Europe, but we seem to have turned our backs on it. In the United States ten or 15 years ago the amount of imported energy supplies was making the country uncompetitive. It has since become competitive because it has found its own source of energy. What can we do to reverse the position here? The European Union is not restricting us, rather it is due to our own inability to do something for ourselves.

Another area in which to provide opportunities for small and medium businesses is e-commerce. When I was in a small shop in Estonia, I saw that the company was exporting all around Europe. Half a dozen employees were selling by way of a system of e-commerce. Borders and boundaries are restricting e-commerce and cross-border trade over the Internet. What can we do about this? What is the European Union doing to ensure cross-border barriers are removed?

The Minister referred to complaints about food labelling. We introduced legislation on food provenance. If we were to introduce information on food provenance in food labelling, customers would have more confidence and trust in Irish food than in food products from other countries. However, we seem to be reluctant to do this and are waiting for the European Union to move in order that there is concerted action. This would remove Ireland's inability to compete in the European market. The Minister also raised the issue, although he said it was the responsibility of the Department of Health. These are actions we could take and which would give us the ability to be more competitive. For example, the United States is composed of 50 states, each of which seems to have a great deal of freedom to compete and energise itself. The European Union, including Ireland, tends to be hampered by a system of centralised control. The United States seems to be able to work so much better and have become much more competitive. I would like us to follow some of its example.