Paul Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I also welcome the witnesses. I will be brief. I have a general statement turning into a question for all of them. If and when we are talking to growers or producers there seems to be a common trend in what they see as the issues for their business. Deputy Kerrane has touched on the retailer side of things, and how prices can be and are driven down with things like loss leaders. Professor Hennessy spoke about carrots and parsnips selling for ridiculous prices the week before Christmas. That sets a trend and belief in people that food can be produced for that sort of price, which has a knock-on effect on the entire agricultural sector but is detrimental on the vegetable side. Another point always raised is labour. A lot of fruit and vegetable production is labour intensive and seasonal. Labour will always come up as an issue. In some sectors at the moment the big issue is the growing medium, and the transition from peat to whatever is supposed to be the next peat. There was no just transition there and they were left in the muck. The fact is, that like most producers in the agriculture sector, they are price takers and there is always downward pressure on their product.

Senator Lombard mentioned the regulations and standards. A carrot is a carrot, irrespective of whether it has to be almost spirit level straight. That is a major issue, because it involves grading and massive investment in grading equipment and machinery. In a lot of cases the so-called abnormal and out of shape carrot can end up being waste. I know a lot of these regulations are from the EU, but can we stand up to them or do anything about them? How do we overcome them? That list is what growers see, from their perspective. The weather and seasonal nature have also been mentioned, but they are uncontrollable. The others are things we should be able to control. How would the witnesses propose to square those circles for the growers of Ireland?