Ned O'Keeffe (Cork East, Fianna Fail)

Having heard the remarks of Deputy James Breen from the Banner county about An Bord Pleanála and planning permissions I am sure west Clare is safe in his hands.

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Treacy, and congratulate him on his good work in the Department of Agriculture and Food. I am not a man who stands back from any matter and I consider that the Bill is shy of the real issue. It does not go anywhere near what is needed to develop the Irish food industry in terms of either development, promotion or marketing.

Why have we not had the foresight to incorporate all food agencies into one statutory body? There are not so many involved as to make this a difficult proposition. Teagasc has a food division. SFADCo comes from Deputy Breen's area and he may not like to tie it up elsewhere. Enterprise Ireland has a major input in regard to grants and the growth of the industry and CERT is involved with FÁS in training for the catering industry.

Reference was made in the Minister's speech to the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources. The marine makes an important contribution to the food industry. The Minister proposed to update the nominating function of the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment and suppress for the present the nominating function of the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, as seafood marketing has not yet transferred to Bord Bia. When are we going to get our act together as regards food? I have a farm and a primary production site and am involved in all facets of farming, including dairy, beef and pig farming, and I can never understand why there is such a lack of commitment on the part of people in agriculture and in Government to get our act together.

The Irish Dairy Board, previously known as An Bord Bainne, has been criticised by many. It is led by Noel Cawley. Why do we not have a link with that organisation? I read an article in the Irish Farmers' Journal yesterday in which Joe Rae, a former president of the IFA and well-known farmer very much to the fore in Irish agriculture, quoted the chief executive of Dairygold regarding the cheese market in the United Kingdom. He asked why we cannot all market under the umbrella of the Irish Dairy Board rather than having other types of links. If we do not go down this route we will only be dealing in half measures. Horticulture is going through a very difficult time because of our climate and many other factors. I know we have garden centres and major housing developments, to which Deputy James Breen referred.

To date, Bord Bia has done a good job in a very restrictive way. I compliment Michael Duffy, who has been an outstanding chief executive and a great diplomat on behalf of Ireland for the Irish food industry across the world. It would not be right if I did not compliment my neighbour, Aidan Cotter, who is now director of operations in Bord Bia. He worked abroad and did a great job. However, it is easy to promote when markets are good, as is the case in the beef market at present. It is progressing in terms of price and we will not have enough beef to supply the markets. Why could we not have found these markets three, four, five or six years ago, when the overall market was depressed?

For some time I have been arguing at party meetings and elsewhere about the country of origin. An article entitled Conditions for EU food production in the Irish Farmers' Journal on 28 February 2004 stated: "BSE in the US, Avian Flu in Thailand and the US and a refusal on the part of McDonalds, the hamburger chain, to use South American beef because of lack traceability." I have been told that the traceability of all the products coming in was so good that there was no problem. McDonald's is one of the largest franchises in the world and it has refused to take Brazilian beef because of problems of traceability. There is no point in telling me that the aforementioned countries have no statutory measures to protect their beef and chicken industries. In Brazil, the average salary received by a beef industry worker on the factory floor is €100 per month. It is not so long ago since Dunnes Stores was boycotted for buying grapes from South Africa where workers were treated so badly under the apartheid regime. However, we are eating beef in Ireland that was also produced by slave labour and nothing is being done about it.

Traceability is very important. The front page of yesterday's Irish Farmers Journal referred to a row between the Department of Agriculture and Food and a Cork farmer regarding the Department's special investigation unit. Why does the Department not investigate what is coming through our ports? Why does it not examine Thai chicken, Korean chicken and products from Indonesia and Brazil, and compare them with the produce of Irish farmers? Irish farmers are not doing what producers in these countries are doing and they are not using the same feedstuffs. We have learned a lesson from what happened regarding Far-Eastern chicken. Were it not for The Sunday Times we would not know about the Kerry Group being hit by the ban on Thai chicken imports. It is the largest importer in the country, thus affecting Irish farmers. The Government will have to decide whether it is supporting big business or our farmers.

Telling me that the countries in question export to European and North American standards does not mean anything. In Ireland the way we develop our business and production is enshrined in law whereas that is not the case in the other countries. If there are 40 chicken growers, 40 beef growers and ten manufacturers and one falls out of line the whole system goes haywire. It is about time we addressed this.

This House, which makes the laws of the land, should ensure that the country of origin is specified on products. What is wrong with listing the country in which a product originated? The Irish consumer is being conned at an unprecedented rate. The Danes produce 1 million tonnes of pig meat in their slaughter houses. We slaughter pigs and produce 250,000 tonnes of meat. There are no significant imports of chicken into Denmark. They have about 7 million people, their dairy quota is the equivalent of ours but there are no significant imports into the country. Denmark exports on a massive scale. It imports 40,000 tonnes of whole pig meat and about 20 tonnes of pig fat. I am a pig producer and I know we produce 250,000 tonnes of pig meat and import over 50,000 tonnes. Will the Minister of State tell me how this can be justified?

It is about time somebody did something about the problem. I have two packets of rashers here, one of which is produced by Denny in Shillelagh. I would like to know the origin of this meat.

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