Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)

I appreciate what Deputy Sherlock said. He has taken a pragmatic approach. He put his finger on it in terms of the potential of the food market when it comes to the recession.

On the pigmeat sector, consumption in Ireland has returned to relative normality quite quickly. That, in itself, has sent out a positive message demonstrating the confidence of the consumer in Irish pigmeat. That is what Bord Bia is using in its market recovery campaign.

Bord Bia is currently preparing the first in a series of promotional campaigns being launched this month and it is hoped, subject to resources, that this can be followed by two similar campaigns later in the year. It is intended that these will focus on promoting products bearing the Bord Bia quality mark, which will also communicate origin as the Irish pork and bacon approved label is phased out.

The recovery plan has four aspects. First, there is the customer reassurance programme. This demonstrates the integrity of Irish health controls, which is the first point that Bord Bia makes internationally in all of our markets. Second, Bord Bia is working specifically with the Irish embassies, hosting bilateral veterinary meetings so that the people in those countries can be absolutely assured and can speak from a position of knowing everything that must be known about our traceability and our confidence.

Third, a trade communications programme is in place. That is where Bord Bia approaches decision makers in the retail, food service and manufacturing sectors to ensure that there is no breakdown in communication and they understand the primary quality of our product. Finally, on international access for pigmeat, Bord Bia is approaching opinion formers in the market based around the exemplary health controls. This involves the media, where Bord Bia gets into magazines and newspapers.

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