Mr. Larry Murrin:

In respect of horticulture, there are a few things Bord Bia readily recognises that represent significant challenges for the sector. Number one is labour supply. It is a very labour-intensive activity. It is difficult to source a sufficiently sized workforce to make that constantly viable, but it is not impossible. My own sector of food processing faced a similar situation ten, 15 and 20 years ago and ultimately overcame it. It is posing an obstacle to the operation and development of many horticultural businesses. The reality is that labour costs have increased and availability has decreased for everyone right across the entire food sector. Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, the input costs, as well as the costs of doing business, have also increased significantly, whatever those inputs might be, from base fertilisers to plant protection products. We then add in our climate on top of that, and it is an industry faced with many challenges. Bord Bia is liaising with all the Irish retailers and the horticulture sector. The feedback we get is that everyone understands that we need to have enough growers to continue the base we have and to try to continue to grow it. The challenges are well recognised by Bord Bia but it is a journey that we will all have to work on together through various steps that are being taken. It is also more than worth mentioning that the importance of quality assurance for the horticulture sector cannot be ignored. Everything that Bord Bia does seeks to give consumers assurance on the methodologies deployed around every aspect of production of Irish food, whether it is inside or outside the farm gate. We have to bear that in mind. It will be a journey. Bord Bia is sensitive and tuned to it and has various initiatives in play, but they will take time. In the meantime, I would love for it to stop raining, for everybody’s benefit. That would give us all a racing chance.