Michelle Mulherin (Fine Gael)
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I welcome everybody and thank Mr. Reilly for his presentation. A number of questions have been asked and I have additional ones. I am not clear about the producer organisation funding. Is this purely Government funding or is it co-funded by the EU? Why is there a delay with it?

Mr. Codd spoke about the renewable heat incentive. Our EU heat and energy obligations guide the direction of Government policy in this regard, but it also requires capital investment by producers. Have some people been doing that, or are any producers and business owners currently sourcing sustainable or renewable energy? Is that commonplace or has it not been possible to do so? Is there an appetite to invest in renewable heating solutions other than conventional ones? Has capital investment occurred and, if not, when might it happen?

At the outset, it was clearly explained that 70,000 tonnes of mushrooms are exported to the UK market annually. It strikes me, and Mr. Wilson touched on this, that Poland is considerably further away from the UK than Ireland is - it is two days away for lorries. With new technology, including packaging and transport solutions, is it possible to seek other markets? Mr. Wilson said he has to take in some Polish mushrooms to meet the demands of existing contracts. Is that a fall-out from producers that have closed? Why has that come about now? Is it as a direct result of closures?

We also have new market issues with beef and other agricultural commodities. Government policy is aimed at finding new markets or assisting producers to find them. We cannot get away from Brexit and I know the mushroom sector is so dependent on the British market, but would it be viable for producers to consider exporting beyond the British market?

Have producers made a case for the CAP market support measures? Have they contacted the European Commission or the Minister about it? This is happening in other agricultural sectors, but I understand the mushroom sector's dilemma.

There is a problem in the agriculture sector that I call externalising the cost. The supermarkets put the stuff on the shelves and someone else is paying for it. Obviously the producer pays but Government supports and everything else make it cheap, yet they dictate the price. It seems to be a capitalist type of dilemma. It is the open market but it is not a true market because it is supported. Where do we go?

Coupled with that is the astounding amount of food that is wasted and how that feeds into the debate about food production. I was present at a meeting where somebody knowledgeable explained that a funny-shaped tomato is regarded as ugly and does not make grade one although it tastes the same as another tomato. These are the things producers contend with when making the grade and meeting the demands of the supermarket multiples which want the produce to look pretty as well as taste right. Is that sustainable?