Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)

I raised the question with the Minister for Agriculture and Food and it was redirected to the Taoiseach. We must get to the bottom of the question. The import and export figures given in the response must be verified as such because food is no longer simply imported or exported. Food is processed along the way and other issues arise with regard to food safety, climate change arising from CO2 emissions and food transport, all of which need to be evaluated. These figures appear to be half-baked because they do not reflect the reality of how food is manufactured, traded and consumed around the world. It is time we differentiated those elements in the figures because, as they stand, they are not detailed enough to give the full picture.

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