Michael McNamara (Clare, Labour)
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I am interested in cheese exports. What proportion of cheese exports are from big processors? I refer to cheeses such as Dubliner, Kilmeaden, and the various brands that have been developed. What proportion of exports are from small farmhouse industries? What proportion of exports are pasteurised and unpasteurised? Is there a growing market for farmhouse, organic and unpasteurised cheeses?

Is it fair to say that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has made it harder for small producers to do business? I have been told that the reason for this is the fear of an E. coli outbreak or any type of outbreak in Ireland. An outbreak would damage Ireland's reputation and thereby damage dairy exports, particularly to China. France has a huge export market and has lots of unpasteurised cheeses for sale. Is there a reason Ireland must be different and put all its eggs in one basket? As a country, we love, for the sake of simplicity, to keep all our eggs in the one basket, be it construction or inward investment, and in this instance big processors supplying pasteurised products. If one likes chewing gum then I am sure one will love some of the cheeses we export, but other producers aim for a different market. What is Bord Bia doing to protect the latter? What is being done to protect them from attack by the Department? Producers should not need protection from the Department, but it appears the need to do so has increased.