Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

Our farmers operate to the highest, strictest standards and suffer severe penalties for the most minor infringements, even if they are completely accidental. They accept this because they know, in part, this is done to protect their market, yet they must tolerate a scenario where their direct competition does not meet the same criteria.

Consumers are unwittingly forced to purchase products that look Irish although they are anything but. The Minister of State, Deputy Sargent, accused Deputy Hayes of promoting law breaking. We want country of origin labelling because such labelling is clear. I visit supermarkets and the British flag, for example, is clearly emblazoned on British produce. Irish produce should be clearly labelled in the same way. We are not promoting law breaking. The origin of products should be clearly identified so that if sauce or breadcrumbs are added to a product, it is not classed as Irish.

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