Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)

——of both inside and outside the Department of Agriculture and Food, he is to be lauded for the manner in which he spoke out. He recognised that the Government, of which he is a supporter, is doing nothing to support what was once a basic and fundamental industry — the food producing industry. Anyone who has studied the food producing sector over the past number of years will note the negative developments that have resulted in a diminution of the sector's influence, particularly on world markets.

Going back to what Deputy Ned O'Keeffe was saying, there was a time that we Irish could boast about the place of origin of all our food. Our food was sent worldwide with a proud label on it. Irish foodstuff still goes abroad with a proud label, for example, Kerrygold and many other dairy products. However, we keep whingeing and whining about competition, the changing marketplace and new entrants to the market. We do nothing to improve our position by investing further in research, development, marketing techniques and singling out products that of themselves can achieve a standard in the international market that will further benefit the economy.

In so far as this sector is concerned, there appears to be a death wish on the part of Government. It seems to be withdrawing from the scene. Deputy Ned O'Keeffe appeared to underline this by indicating that the Government seems to allow the downward trend to continue without interruption. The only action that has taken place in recent times is the fundamental review with the aim of introducing an integrated plan for agriculture in the future. It is about seven years too late.. Much damage has been done. I have spent a great deal of time tabling parliamentary questions to extract information on food imports into this country from the EU — with which I have no problem — and non-EU countries. Both Deputy Ned O'Keeffe and Deputy Timmins dealt with this at length. We must be clear that, if we are in the business, we must compete on a number of grounds such as quality, traceability and price. It is up to us after that.

I heard a gentleman from An Taisce on "Morning Ireland" talking about how all payments now come from Brussels. I hope Government has not fallen victim to that kind of indoctrination. If it has, the situation is much more serious than we think. Once any industry falls into the hands of bureaucrats, one can forget about it. The gentleman from An Taisce thought that the job of the agricultural sector and the rural community was to keep the countryside looking well for people like him to enjoy. That is not what it is about. This is an area where we can employ people and in which people have been productively employed. It is a resource that we need to continue to work on and support, not only for our own population but to ensure we can produce for international markets. For any country with a climate like Ireland's to allow itself to slip in that area is a disaster.

A number of years ago I heard one commentator on agriculture refer to the need for a major review of the sector which would take us into the 21st century in terms of what we produced, how we produced, prepared and marketed food, and how we should change to meet the requirements of today's world with oven-ready products ready for the table as opposed to just for storage. I presume the current review will incorporate all that. If it does not, another problem will arise. What concerns me most about the agricultural and horticultural sectors is that costs are increasing in this country at an alarming rate. We keep asking how the costs can increase so dramatically despite an allegedly low inflation rate. I can never understand how we can have such low inflation and at the same time price ourselves out of markets everywhere. In this type of situation, what happens is that, in the beginning, producers become somewhat less competitive. Suddenly they come to a juncture where competition is too great. Unfortunately, we are now heading in that direction. We became a little uncompetitive a few years ago. We are now seriously uncompetitive, not only in the sector under discussion but also in a number of other areas. I do not see any initiative being taken by the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Deputy Walsh, to address the issue.

Will this new joint board have teeth and be effective? Will it be able to provide adequate time and resources towards pursuing the objects of research and development and selling and marketing the product? I do not know. Other speakers have no confidence in it and I agree with them. Once the purpose of the exercise is to save money, there is little hope for the future.

Years ago we set great store in spending money on marketing, research and development and producing products that could compete worldwide. I recall visiting the World Food Fair in Anuga, Germany, in 1988. I remember various Irish producers there. Mr. Goodman had a stand under the UK flag at that time. What impressed most was that countries such as Argentina, Italy and Brazil — whether in the beef or dairy industry — were well-advanced and marketing aggressively. They had both volume and quality as well as consistency.

Up to then I used to think, in my innocence, that because of our particular climate in Ireland and ability to produce quality food, we held all the cards and were playing them to the best advantage. I then realised that was not the case and that there were others in the market as well. In many cases they were larger than we were, put more resources into the effort and had the ability to go further in terms of marketing. As some of these competitors were from non-island nations, they could, with beneficial consequences for themselves, gain access to markets much more quickly than the Irish could.

I do not know whether Irish efforts over recent years in terms of quality and traceability have improved the position. I have this sinking feeling, however, that the Government and the Department of Agriculture and Food in particular have thrown in the towel. They have accepted the suggestion from other parts of Government that this is now a high-wage, sophisticated economy with technology present everywhere. We have electronic voting in the Dáil and will soon have it installed throughout the country without any concerns about the expenditure involved. We are sophisticated and slick. My only response is that slickness has come a cropper many times in the past. Let us not run away with the notion that, now we are slick, we are all-conquering and all-powerful. We are not.

I am not certain the proposal the Minister is bringing before the House to merge the two elements in the food sector will work. If it is intended to allow part of one sector to disappear and concentrate on another area, it will not work. The horticultural sector is growing rapidly. It should be very easy, as we have an ideal climate for it. We have garden and greenhouse centres all over the country. Every town and village has one. I even do a little dabbling in that area myself from time to time. It is something for which we have a natural ability because of our climate. I wonder whether that is generally recognised. We must remember about horticulture generally that it can be eco-friendly, financially rewarding and pleasing to the eye — beneficial in every way to those involved. I urge the Minister to keep an eye on it.

Before I conclude, I would like to refer to something mentioned by other speakers. As Members will know, a great bone of contention in recent years has been people's inability to obtain planning permission to live in their own countryside. Immediately before the great bringing together of that group which gathers once a year for the Fianna Fáil Ard-Fheis, whom we wish well over the weekend——

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