Ms Eileen Bentley:

To address Deputy Martin Ferris's questions, by way of clarification, the figure of 1% referred to in the presentation represents the size of the retail food market, not total organic production. The Deputy is correct to state direct sales are not included. It is very difficult to quantify exactly how much is sold independently through food markets and one-to-one farm gate sales. The overall figure is higher than €110 million, but, having said that, almost 90% of the total is sold through retailers; therefore, the figure captures a very good proportion of it.

With regard to the economic profile of consumers, price is the number one barrier to buying organic produce. From as far back as 2006 our research has consistently shown that it is always raised as the number one issue for consumers. It is why they will not buy organic products or do not buy more of them. There are communication issues which we are working to overcome. This concerns education on the benefits of organic products and how best to convey the perceived consumer benefits in terms of health, nutrition, flavour and taste. Through the campaign of advertorials we have run in recent years, we have tried to communicate to consumers directly the benefits of organic products and how to identify and find organic products on shelves. A total of 50% of consumers do not buy organic products and have no intention of buying them; therefore, our focus is very much on the 50% who are engaged to try to convince them to increase their spend and purchase more.

To answer Senator Darragh O'Brien, the consensus between my colleagues and I is that the percentage gain for producers selling to retailers is somewhere between 10% and 20% in some categories. It very much depends on the category involved. The situation in Austria could be due to a combination of factors in terms of what is done differently there. We have had discussions on this issue among ourselves.

As it is a more mountainous country, the pasture open for organic grazing is higher than here and more farms naturally fall into it. We chose to follow one set of organic certification standards and the Austrians chose another. Perhaps the net of farmers who are considered to be organic is wider in Austria because it applies different organic standards. It could also be a market-driven approach in terms of public procurement opportunities. I am not sure, but is there a level in public procurement contracts at which a certain amount of purchases must be organic? That would help to stimulate and drive demand.