Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)

I was delighted to hear the president of the IFA, Mr. Padraig Walshe, on the radio this morning asking people to buy Irish produce. The reason Mr. Padraig Walshe can do that but neither I nor the Minister, Deputy Brendan Smith, can is that the use of State money for the guaranteed Irish campaign is not allowed under EU rules. I have met with representatives of the Restaurants Association of Ireland and others to make that point. It is a case of horses for courses. The Government and Bord Bia, the agency with the remit in this area, have a responsibility to provide the type of quality assurance required but in the case of a guaranteed Irish scheme, such as was mentioned by the Deputy, we can go so far but no further. We can promote EU produce but a guaranteed Irish campaign would require non-taxpayers' money. Thankfully, there is a willingness on the part of stakeholders such as the IFA and the Restaurants Association to put private money behind such campaigns. Once we have the quality assurance and the guaranteed Irish assurance from those who can do it, we can combine the two to get the message across that buying Irish means buying the best quality. That is the ultimate result.

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