Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)

The total Exchequer allocation to Bord Bia for 2009 is €31.6 million, including specific allocations for quality assurance, that is, the quality assurance scheme, and healthy eating initiatives, such as the Food Dudes programme. This grant-in-aid, together with an industry contribution of the order of €7 million, will enable Bord Bia to implement a comprehensive set of promotional programmes and services to assist Irish food and drink companies build additional business in Europe, particularly in euro zone countries. These programmes have been developed in consultation with industry, bearing in mind the impact of the sterling differential on competitiveness.

Among the extensive range of activities planned for continental Europe are: a Private Label seminar, France-Belgium, which will be followed up by participation at the MDD — Marques de Distributeurs Alimentaires — trade fair in Paris and mentoring on the requirements of supplying continental supermarket groups; Marketplace Roadshow Spain, which involves building insight into Spanish market requirements, through a seminar on the retail and food service markets and the dynamics of the market, which will be followed by participation at the Club de Gourmet trade fair in Madrid and individually tailored buyer meetings with the largest customers in the market; Portugal market familiarisation, which involves a key insight into market and visiting the Alimentaria trade fair in Lisbon; the Private Label seminar, Scandinavia, Germany and Holland, which includes company specific mentoring on market requirements and participation in the PLMA — Private Label Manufacturers Association — international trade fair in Amsterdam; and food ingredients-nutraceuticals, Europe, which involves providing industry with detailed analysis on market requirements, particularly for dairy ingredients, culminating in participation in the Vita Foods international fair in Geneva. Other trade fairs where Bord Bia will be promoting the capability of the Irish food, drink and horticulture industry include Biofac in Munich this month, Vinexpo International Wine and Spirits in Bordeaux in June, TFWA Duty Free in Cannes in October, Anuga International in Cologne in October and Food Ingredients Europe in Frankfurt in November.

Bord Bia activities will also be prioritised to assist the meat sector following the dioxin contamination incident last year and the board has in place a market recovery campaign to build on the reassurances already provided to customers since the product recall. My Department, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Bord Bia are continuing to work closely on market access issues and will be guided by Irish exporters with regard to programmes and activities required on a market by market and customer by customer basis.

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