Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)

To follow on from and concur with my colleague, Deputy Creed, we are facing a serious issue here. The first thing we must do is be honest in the debate. At the moment, our consumers are misled and misinformed. We have only to look at a few examples. Recently, I came across an example of cheese made in the UK but which is packaged as Irish. The reason for this is that such cheese contains one small ingredient of Irish origin. There are examples of wholesale meat coming in from Argentina and Brazil and being packaged as Irish and examples where Irish companies abroad package their goods as Irish.

We are not looking to ban competition but to promote Irish goods. As my colleague said, we have a policy in respect of the green Ireland brand. The Minister takes ownership and has an opportunity or open goal in terms of protecting the consumer. The consumer is always right but is being misled and misinformed. Sometimes there is a country brand on the packaging but it could be in small print or made in New Zealand or Denmark so there is a vast array of anomalies within the packaging and labelling sector which we must address.

I am very keen to speak on the record of the House about the effort and diligence of Irish farmers. From my work in my constituency of Donegal North-East, I know about the effort they put into cross-compliance and sometimes unworkable departmental regulations. Irish farmers bought into it on the basis that there would be a quality Irish product that would help increase the price but prices are not rising. I know there is talk that Irish beef has increased in price in the past two years but in terms of 1980s prices, prices are not increasing when one takes index-linking and inflation into consideration.

We are looking at a situation where the operations of small farmers throughout the length and breadth of this country will close down. I refer specifically to pig farmers. Pig farmers, who represent the third most important agricultural output sector in this country, are being crippled in terms of the 35 cent per kilogram increase in maize from this time last year.

The Minister of State says that we are being disingenuous and dishonest but in respect of the Herculex maize strain and GM food we need to bring in, the reality is that people tonight will be eating beef from outside this country from cattle fed on GM food. It is contradictory and hypocritical to say we should ban that import.

It is also important to state on record in this House that GM food can be sold as a bad thing in terms of looking for best practice but one should look at the potato crop over the past 30 years. How many times did the potato crop change through genetic modification? We are still eating potatoes and the same should go for the Herculex maize strain. This is where we need to be sincere and honest in terms of not misleading the consumer about the product they are eating.

We should learn from the example of the UK whose pig industry went to the wall because it operated under double standards. Strict welfare legislation was introduced in respect of the pig sector but the protections were not introduced in respect of imports. That is the issue here tonight. We are not introducing protections against imports of foreign beef that do not go through the rigid mechanisms of cross-compliance. From various IFA deputations to Brazil, we know for a fact that food from animals affected by foot and mouth disease is coming into this country and we must follow up on this evidence.

In respect of pig farmers, we have a labelling system that was introduced so that the consumer could feel safe but it is not being adhered to. I hoped the Minister would be here tonight because, as the Minister of State is, no doubt, aware, she engaged in scaremongering throughout the general election campaign, particularly in my own patch, to the effect that people should not vote for Fine Gael because it would go in with the Green Party. I know the Minister of State has visited Donegal on various occasions and on different missions. I have visited farmyards there and if the Minister of State had visited some of these farms before the general election, he would have been chased out and hunted by people telling him that his party was planning to go in with Fine Gael in the next election and would drive farmers out of business.

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