Mr. Kieran McEvoy:

I thank the Deputy for his question. We feel it is vitally important that the premium products in the drinks industry the Deputy mentioned are supplied with native Irish raw materials. There has been some work done in that area and some companies use only Irish products. However, there is a certain proportion which do not use Irish products and are selling Irish whiskey which is just Irish water. Work has to be done on the whiskey profile of this country with the Irish Whiskey Association to ensure that native grain has to be part of the whiskey-making process in this country. That would help in the malt and barley market.