Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Secretary General and his team here today. I commend them on the role they played during the EU Presidency. I agree with the concerns expressed by other speakers on public procurement. Are there any recent examples of Ireland being granted allowances under the state aid policy? Is there an equal interpretation of those rules across the EU? Is there an appetite for relaxation of those rules, considering the jobs crisis, or are they more open to abuse in light of the jobs crisis in many countries? The Secretary General mentioned the loan facility of the competitiveness council and the targeting of financial support for SMEs. Can he expand on the operation of this?

My final question is about the EU-US transatlantic trade and investment partnership. I presume that the agrisector would be included in those trade talks. The importation of US agricultural products would be a concern because of the different regime that they have in respect of the use of hormones and the use of BST for milk production. I would be concerned that if there was no proper labelling, we could have food scares that were similar to those which we had in the past. We have made great strides in Europe over the decades on traceability, quality product and hormone free beef, so perhaps the Secretary General might expand on these issues.