Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State has made the point that we are becoming uncompetitive as a result of sterling devaluation. I accept it is something he cannot control. People travelling to mainland Britain get the same experience in Scotland and Wales as they possibly would get here. What are we doing to attract other tourists to our island? What are we doing to market and diversify our marketing spend? We are not increasing the marketing spend. While what Bord Bia and Enterprise Ireland have done is welcome, we are not at the races. We have not established a Brexit task force. I asked about the leadership group to see if it had been established to look specifically at a Brexit task force. It has not been established. The Minister of State is right to commend the 220,000 people who work in the industry. One in nine people in the country work in the industry. They are not benefiting from access to low-cost finance the way food producers are but they need it. I encourage the Minister of State to fight in order that people in the industry have access to the same level of funding as food producers.