Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I want the Minister to know where I was coming from when I mentioned the figure in question. The feedback from industry representatives and Bord Bia officials who attended a meeting of this committee was that additional resources are needed because the current level of resources is insufficient. I agree with the Minister that the quality people who work in this area carry out their role well within the resources they have. As the Minister indicated, this is a crucial issue in the context of meeting the challenge of Brexit and trying to maintain existing markets and open new ones. The feedback suggests there is a widespread feeling that the current allocation of 20 - it was 16 last year, with four more to be hired - is simply insufficient to meet the challenging tasks that exist, particularly the challenge of trying to diversify while opening new markets and reopening markets which would have been available to us in the past. I accept the Minister's point that we do not have limitless funds and we need to make the most of what we have. I put it to him that there is a unanimous feeling that additional funding is needed in this area. Will the Minister give us a breakdown of the operations of the 20 people who have been hired or are being hired to carry out this important role? What divisions are they going to? I know Bord Bia is responsible for how it deploys its staff, but it is important to get a handle on where they are going. When I heard that an additional €2 million was being provided this year, my understanding was that approximately half of that money would be allocated to the beef side of things in Bord Bia. I suggest that would be a very small figure, particularly in the context of big challenges like trying to develop new beef markets.

I would also like to ask the Minister about the market access personnel in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. I know it was previously proposed that a specific market access unit with dedicated staff should be developed in the Department. I know some staff across a couple of sections of the Department spend a lot of time on market access issues. Can the Minister comment on the proposal I have mentioned? Is he open to it? Does he think it would enhance the current structures in the Department? I would also like to ask about the Brexit unit that has been established by the Minister. I understand from the Minister's replies to parliamentary questions that there are three members of staff in the unit at the moment. I understand the point made by the Minister when we debated this matter in the Dáil last week that this matter is occupying the minds of staff across all sections of the Department.

On the Brexit unit, which has been established with three people, will the Minister elaborate on the role of the unit and the reason that only three people have been assigned to it? It seems a very low number, given the enormity of the task of co-ordinating and researching the impact of Brexit on the various components of the agricultural sector.