Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. It is now over five years since the agrifood 2010 committee recommended the setting up of the organic development committee so it is time to examine what progress has been made. The report predicted that by 2006 we would have at least 3% of agricultural land in organic production. Is it time to look again at the measures outlined by the Minister of State on the basis that the figures for other EU countries show considerable progress has been made elsewhere? For example, Austria has nearly 13% of land in organic production, it is over 7% in Finland, and over 6% in Denmark, Greece and Italy. This shows that something is being done in those countries which we are not doing. Can the Minister identify what they are doing that we are not doing, given the potential here which has not been fulfilled?

Will the Minister of State revise the reply he gave to me last October when he said it is up to producers and consumers to determine whether the target is achieved? Does he not agree that 70% of organic food eaten in this country is imported, that this indicates that it is not simply a matter of leaving it up to consumers and producers and that a much more proactive targets-based policy needs to be adopted, which is the case in Austria? It is clear that such a policy works as Austria has 13% of land in organic production. Is it not time to look again at the policy and give us the potential which we would be capable of reaching were the Government in support of it?

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