Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)

When Napoleon Bonaparte was the top dog in France, he required that the mayor of each local town or village should determine where there should be a market and on what day it should be open. That became the rule for the area. We need to get each local authority to take on that job of organising markets for our towns and villages. They must determine where a market can be held. It is important to realise that wherever markets exist, they boost the retail business of established shop owners by bringing an attractive and vibrant retail environment into an area. They often add to the shopping experience for retailers and consumers.

Local authorities and the Departments of Agriculture and Food and the Environment, Heritage and Local Government need to work together to re-establish a tradition which was part of this country but which has been lost. Farmers are the poorer for that because they have no alternative for their produce other than the major supermarkets.

The remit of Bord Bia is closely connected to exports, and understandably it is focused on the export sector. I have just read an article covering an interview with Mr. Michael Duffy of Bord Bia in January of this year. He says the challenge for the Irish food industry is to compete successfully in this more open and competitive marketplace and that this will be the greatest challenge facing it in its history. He also says the industry's success will determine the nature and future sales of Irish agricultural produce which were previously maintained by the coupling of EU payments. He was responding there to the challenge of decoupling but completely overlooked an aspect of the food industry on which work needs to be done — the re-establishment of the connection between the producer and the consumer.

That connection has been increasingly lost as we have become part of a more globalised and open economy. However, food is not like software or car components which can be shipped around the world without a deterioration in the quality of the product. From both a health and macrobiotic point of view, food is something which benefits from a local production to meet local needs policy. When the producer knows what the consumer wants he can respond and adjust more quickly to market changes.

I urge the Minister to ensure that this Bill opens up the type of reform needed in the Department of Agriculture and Food. The current focus and reliance on exports is a recipe for further flight from the land, I visited Leitrim recently where, whether one reads the Leitrim Observer or talks to farmers, the thinking of those involved in agriculture is that in due course Leitrim will only be able to support two farms. Everybody is wondering who the last two farmers will be in the new environment of total decoupling and globalised food marketing. This situation is replicated around the country where many farmers feel they are at the end of their time as farmers. This is a sad indictment on this Government and others which have seen a flight from the land over decades.

In my area the glasshouse sector sees not just the influence of the open and global market on food marketing but also a rise in energy prices. Much of the sector relies on gas yet the potential for methane from anaerobic digestion through slurry etc. is quite untapped except in Camphill and a few other exceptional areas around the country where farmers have had the initiative to group together to establish something which is seen almost as a curiosity and is featured on "Ear to the Ground" occasionally as a way of doing things. This issue does not seem to feature when major statements come from the Department saying we must set a target of so much methane and anaerobic digestion to meet our needs. Whether we are talking about the nitrates directive or creation of energy it is a win win situation. The issue needs to be addressed but it does not appear to be at the forefront of the Department's agenda.

It would be well worth while to consider how energy costs and prices will rise in the future due to scarcity. We should consider this not on the basis of taxation or other influences but simply on the basis of the energy being unavailable. A considerable part of the price of food depends on the price of energy. Therefore, the more we can put in place local food production safety net parallel economy systems, the more likely we are to survive the type of energy price hikes which will form part of international geopolitics in the future. The less we support our local producers in terms of farmers' markets and the re-establishment of the connection between consumer and producer, the more we will have to rely on the importation of food which would bring with it the added cost of transport. Whereas we might buy cheap tomatoes from Holland or further afield, the transport costs of that produce will grow as energy costs grow. If the tomato growers of north County Dublin have to shut up shop and sell off their land and concrete over it, as has happened in many cases, we will have no choice but to buy more expensive food as local produce will not be available. This is not just a prediction. It is clear that this is the way things are going and I hope the Government can see the pattern unfolding.

Although we are talking about Bord Bia, agriculture must be broader than just a food producing sector and must also produce energy. Not only is the country falling down badly in regard to realising the potential of renewable energy through agriculture, it does not realise the potential of the organic sector, which is being outstripped by other countries. We see the frustration of groups, of which I am sure the Minister of State is aware from reading the Western Organic Producer every month.

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