Feargal Quinn (Independent)
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It is a joy to hear from all the witnesses and to hear the success stories. I met Ms Twomey and her husband, Lord have mercy on him, only a few years after she started in 1976. What a smashing job she has done. Innovation is so important, certainly in the food business, which is the one I know best. What Bord Bia is and has been doing is encouraging innovation. In the case of Clonakilty, there is a success story. By the way, today’s edition of The Irish Timesalso gave Clonakilty great marks for its product.

What are the obstacles? What are the difficulties, particularly in regard to competitiveness? How does one manage to become more competitive, whether the business is engineering, food or whatever? If an Irish company was the same as every other company, then Ms Twomey would not have had a chance when she knocked on the doors of those stores in Britain. She gave an interesting answer to the question posed by Deputy Tóibín. She said her company did not get into a private label but maintained an individual own-brand one. That is an important element which can succeed very well. My questions on innovation, obstacles to exports and the challenges in terms of competitiveness apply to all of the witnesses.

I found the presentations made by Ms Rimmington, Ms Brady and Ms Sidhu very interesting. I was on the board of the Food Marketing Institute in America for 20 years. I am also a former chairman of the Consumer Goods Forum, a worldwide organisation based in Paris, and the Brussels-based EuroCommerce. It was interesting to find very successful female chief executives, although there were not many, in companies such as PepsiCo. These people did not get their appointment because they were women. They were appointed because they were better than all of the other applicants. I do not think these particular companies, which have had such success, had positive discrimination. I think these women had to earn their appointments against all the other contenders.

I want to know the following. What are the difficulties that women face in trying to get to the top? Are they expected to be double-jobbers? Are they expected to look after their homes and families as well as being entrepreneurs and success stories? If so, is there anything that the State or society as a whole can do to overcome that scenario? If we lose out on very talented and competent women we will lose 50% of the available market. We as a society must do something about the matter, but probably not by law or anything like that. There is probably something else that we can do. Have the witnesses any suggestions in that area?