Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 26 January 2016

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership: Discussion

1:30 pm

Photo of Feargal QuinnFeargal Quinn (Independent)
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I have two further points. One relates to Mr. Finnegan's point about cosmetics and the ban in Europe. I do not know anything about cosmetics but I remember that 30 or 40 years ago, Europe allowed thalidomide. One person in America, who was in charge of health, said, "No". She was not convinced that this particular drug should be allowed. Europe had a huge number of cases of children suffering from thalidomide for many years. America did not have one such case because it did not allow it. We would want to be careful not to take individual cases on that basis. It depends on having control. Let us encourage TTIP but on the basis that we can control, watch and influence it, which is what we are doing to a certain extent here today.

My other point concerns genetically modified foods. I am again talking about the old days but way back in 1970, Norman Borlaug won the Nobel prize because he had discovered an ability to put a new strain of wheat into production and thereby saved millions of lives. I think he was Norwegian. This is the sort of thing we should be encouraging rather than trying to dampen it down by saying we will not have these changes. We have great opportunity in our hands; let us ensure we use it.