Ned O'Keeffe (Cork East, Fianna Fail)

They are very good for grilling. I am a member of the company's management committee and I am fed up with this. The company receives grant aid from Enterprise Ireland and scales down the purchase of local pigs in favour of imports. The Minister of State is in charge. Let him make a name for himself and be the Donogh O'Malley of agriculture by making an order tomorrow that the country of origin must be identified on the package, and forget about big business. He should put a board in charge of Bord Bia and support Michael Duffy who would have no vested interests. There is a vested interest at work here, no country should be ashamed of putting its name on its food products, whether a pound of butter, bacon or sausages. When I pick up items in the shops in Dublin I see that it happens in other countries. There is a message coming through loud and clear which I could not repeat, from Matt Dempsey, one of the most influential agricultural journalists in the country, a man well-recognised for his ability. The Minister of State has probably shared many platforms with him during his two years in the Department of Agriculture and Food. He has been fighting tooth and nail for some time for identifying the country of origin. I do not understand why an Irish Government, led by Fianna Fáil, would shy away from its responsibility to protect the consumer and the producer on such an important issue.

I would also like to know why the Minister of State did not develop a national food agency because he tells us we export 90% of our produce. If we want a successful food industry we should have a national agency to deal with it and maybe have a link into it. There is no problem legislating to incorporate the private sector into a State sector. I refer specifically to the Irish Dairy Board in light of Joe Rea's comments yesterday. This Bill does not go the distance to solve the problems of our food industry of which I have given several examples. Our farmers must produce food to compete with food coming into the country where there is no legislation to protect them. Irish farmers are disciplined and there are no rogues among them; their herds have a good disease-free status. Most of the diseases in the country come from imported stock. There is more supervision and argument with farmers at farm level than at the point of entry in our ports. I am told that one could bring an elephant into the country and he would not be seen until he put his head up somewhere but if I had a bullock with no tag and he strayed, half of the Department's squad would come after him. That is the truth.

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