Mr. Aidan O'Driscoll:

I strongly agree with the Deputy's final points about the potential in Africa. For what it is worth, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has a presence in either seven or eight embassies. I cannot recall the precise number. Many of us here have worked in those jobs over the years. We have re-orientated those in recent years. For example, we did not replace our person in the embassy in Madrid and our person in the embassy in Warsaw. Instead, we set up posts in Beijing and Moscow. This is a shift from a policy intelligence-based foreign service to a trade-based foreign service. Our presence in the embassies is quite small. I would like to see that continue. In particular, I would like to see us develop a presence in the Middle East and Africa if the Minister approves. I would see that as a priority. I am very familiar with sub-Saharan Africa. I worked there for eight years so I am very conscious of the potential there.

China is one of our biggest markets. I have a list of the top dairy destinations. It is worth €395 million so it is very large. A market in Nigeria, which is worth €138 million and is growing rapidly, offers huge potential. The Minister hopes to visit Nigeria before the end of the year as part of a trade visit to west Africa. The market in Saudi Arabia is worth €126 million. These countries are very significant. A place like Senegal that nobody would think of is worth €51 million. This offers serious potential.

As I said earlier, the prospect of dairy expansion is one of the most important things ever to hit the agri-food industry in this country. It is an enormously important event. In my previous role and since assuming my current role, I have spoken to Bord Bia and the leaders of all the top companies very closely about this and about how they see market developments and whether we will find markets for the product. They are very bullish and see huge potential. In recent years, we have focused heavily on European markets. All our beef products go entirely to European markets and many of our dairy products are focused on European markets. In more recent years, we have begun to concentrate on places like China and Nigeria - the new markets. That is the future. Deputy Deasy is saying that the State needs to adjust to that with its offer and support for companies and I agree with him 100% on that. I have talked to my opposite number, Niall Burgess, in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. I am very familiar with ambassadors in some of our key potential markets and have also spoken to them. I must say that our colleagues in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade are fully engaged in this. We are also fully engaged in it.

We formed the trade committee some years ago in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. It was designed to pull together staff from across the Department and Bord Bia who work on trade issues. There are people in our veterinary division who work on trade issues such as certification of product for trade. We tried to set up a committee that cut right across the Department taking in every bit of the Department that works on trade-related issues to co-ordinate and make it work better. It is a major focus for us and we will certainly work closely with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; Enterprise Ireland and Bord Bia on it.