Mr. Aidan Cotter:

Let me answer the question on seaweed and then I shall pass some of the remaining questions to my colleague.

In the middle of this year Bord Bia established an insight centre or what we call the Thinking House because we passionately believe that success in the marketplace only comes from a deep understanding of consumer needs. Our research team or insight team has travelled the world. They undertook ethnographic work where they stayed with people in their homes, shop with them, eat with them, look in their fridges and go to school with their children to see how they use dairy products, for example. Our research people have done this work in China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Senegal in Africa and last week in India. I have given an example of the kind of investment we make into insight. We can help the seaweed sector by undertaking and searching for insights into where the markets might be and identify the needs of consumers. In the Thinking House we translate all of that data into how we can help businesses develop a concept, brand, design and product to meet those needs. We can help a company or entrepreneur to start up a business and successfully take them into the market through the work of the insight centre. I invite members to visit the insight centre that is located nearby on the end of Mount Street. The centre is an innovative and stimulating work space that any person can benefit from and it should be promoted to companies.

It is something that companies that want to build successful new businesses can use in future.

We are strongly supportive of people who want to start new food businesses. With Enterprise Ireland and Teagasc, we have developed the Food Works programme, which helps startups to bring their ideas to market. A structured series of activities helps people to develop and test their ideas, undertake the necessary research, source production locations and take their ideas to market. Full supports are available for anyone in the seaweed sector. If people come to Bord Bia's insight centre, we will help them to develop a position in the market.