Mr. Louis Maguire:

One must be careful about what one reads in the press about the Arab world. The press tends to blow things out of all proportion. I have been in the Middle East at times when there have been reports in Ireland of bombings, shootings and so on. However, it does not always happen. It happens in certain regions, just as one need not go too far to find shootings taking place in certain regions of one's own country. However, there are no barriers to Irish goods. The Deputy mentioned some of the products that Ireland is exporting. During the 1970s and 1980s, Ireland's main export was beef. At the time, we sold all our beef to Britain, but when it suddenly received a cheap offer from Argentina it decided to stop buying Irish beef overnight. This was a serious problem for all farmers throughout the country, and I attended a meeting for which farmers sent their representatives to Dublin. To give members an idea of how easy it is to overcome a problem, I got on a plane and went to Libya.

I came back with an order for 1,000 cattle, which I gave to the late Mark Clinton, who was Minister for Agriculture at the time. I was not away for more than a week, so one can get over obstacles very easily. There is scope for a lot more than beef, although beef is coming back now. We are into Saudi Arabia in a pretty big way with beef, as well as the United Arab Emirates.

Only last week, I was approached by one of the beef exporters who said he would like to get into Qatar. I went to London with him and we saw the ambassador there who said he would have the ban lifted. There had been a ban in place for many years since the time of the BSE outbreak in England. I brought this gentleman to meet the ambassador and he put his case. Last Saturday night, I had a phone call from the ambassador to say that the ban had been lifted and he was sending people here early in the new year to buy Irish beef.

The opportunities are there. As I have said a thousand times, the door is open for anyone from Ireland who wants to sell anything. I do not know if that answers the Deputy's question.