Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I have a few questions about the dating of fruit, in particular, and food in general. I like Keelings Fruit. I am unusual. It is mostly women who do the shopping but I like shopping. When I am going home on a Thursday evening, I call into certain supermarkets and buy a bit of fruit. Last week or the week before, I bought two punnets of Keelings berries. I came home and was disgusted because they were out of date and not nice. That is not the fault of Keelings. It is the fault of the supermarket.

We talk about regulators and there is only one in this country, which is the Government and the way it regulates businesses. All regulators do is to come in and make life difficult for businesses. They are not there when they are needed. They are not there for the energy crisis or the food sector. They are not regulating the supermarkets. What has gone on with the supermarkets over the past two years has been rip-off Ireland. They have ripped us off. I have seen the way they have dealt with fruit. Of course they might run out at Christmas and have a few cheap drinks and carrots. With their approach to goods overall in the past year, I do not how the consumers put up with it. There has been no regulator for the food industry. I thank the members of the panel for coming here this evening. Do they find the regulator helpful? Is the regulator really there or is it only there in name? I do not see a regulator operating in the food sector. I will give the simple example of water. I buy water with lemon and lime in it. It cost 32 cent one year ago. Does the Chairman know what it now costs in Tesco? I do not mind naming the company. It is rip-off Tesco, which tells us all how great it is and the offers it has. It now costs 65 cent. I do not want to be told not to name the company. Tesco is the name of the company and it is a rip-off. Where was the regulator to regulate that? There is no way that any product, particularly water with a bit of lime in it, could go up from 32 cent to 65 cent in a few months. I cannot get an answer to that.

Does Bord Bia talk to the Department of Education about young people? I was glad to hear Mr. Neary mention apprenticeships in the horticulture business because they are important. Does Bord Bia talk to the Department of Education about teaching young people about food, vegetables and how to cook? I know that if you cannot cook it on the mobile phone, it will not be cooked. That is the way this world has gone now. It is all mobile phones and if you cannot order food on a mobile phone or cook it on a mobile phone, it will not happen. It is like going to the bog. I said last year that Deputy Eamon Ryan was getting excited about a bit of turf. I said that if the turf could not be cut on a mobile phone, it will not be cut at all because people will not do it if it is not on a mobile phone. Is Bord Bia talking to schools to try to educate young people about good quality Irish food? We have great quality food and Keelings and companies like it produce very good quality Irish food. I compliment Keelings for that. However, I would like to see more effort being made to educate young people.

I will ask Bord Bia about promotion. Has it done any recent promotions about Irish food and particularly labelling Irish food? I know there might be an EU regulation in that regard but there are ways and means of getting around that. Such a practice would mean that when you go into a shop, you know whether the produce is Irish or Spanish or whatever it is. That should be there.

The dating on produce should be bigger. I am saying that to Keelings and companies like it. I would not be a regular shopper although I like shopping. Unless you are a regular shopper, you would not be inclined to look at dates. I forgot and made the mistake of only looking at the date when I was at home instead of looking at the date when I was in the supermarket. That is the question.

In respect of pricing, to be fair to the growers, they are being ripped off by multinational companies. They are being tied into contracts. Is there anything the regulator can do to supervise what growers are getting paid and what price the supermarkets are selling goods at?

What is happening with regard to food safety? I was listening to the radio recently and heard a professor talking about a new ant, or something, that has come into the country. It can get into food and buildings. What is Bord Bia doing about safety in food?