Ms Tara McCarthy:

No, we would have that aim. What we are looking to do, which is our remit, is to promote the products of the Irish food and drink industry which are produced in the Republic of Ireland. When we look at everything that we do, if a company has facilities in the North or in mainland Britain, we do not show a bias but seek to work with those companies as much as possible.

When it comes to Derry, I am not quite sure. The Senator might have confused activities. We have a lot of challenges on the promotion of the Republic of Ireland on the Irish market but it was not Bord Bia activity that caused them. We have never promoted or un-promoted products from outside of the county. What we look at is quality assurance schemes. We do have, and recognise, facilities in the North of Ireland within that but we do not have, include or invite, from any member state, anybody who is working on it. We are fair with everybody in that we operate within our remit. The Twenty-six Counties are within our remit. Outside of the Twenty-six Counties, and that can be in Normandy in France, Germany, Wales or the North of Ireland, we respect the job we have been given to do.