Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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In principle, I have no issue with the amendment but there is a practical issue arising. We are talking about labelling.

Depending on the amendments made on Committee Stage, labelling will be prescribed by the Minister. In principle I support the amendments but I have a question from a practical point of view. Will Deputy Donnelly agree to hold this off until Report Stage? My suggestion is purely on the basis that it would give the Minister of State time to come back with details on how this will happen practically. If we are going to have labelling in Irish and English, what scale of label are we going to have across the various products?

I hope that the process by which this could be done would involve the warning on some versions of products in English and on some versions in Irish rather than potentially having both. We need to consider the size and scale of the label. If everything has to be bilingual it would be a concern with regard to costs and overheads for producers. The Minister of State may not have the relevant practical information. I support the idea in principle but I would like to hear practically how it would be transposed. The Minister of State may need time to sort this out before Report Stage. That is simply my suggestion for Deputy Donnelly.