Fine Gael's priorities in the agrifood sector are based on a decent standard of living for those producing and working in that sector; a sustainable, innovative production cycle based on sustainability, animal welfare and the environment - I agree with some of what the Minister of State, Deputy Cuffe said, although not all of it - it is a scarce resource, but we have plenty of it and we should manage it. We should give serious consideration to developing a brand denoting a labelled, certified high quality product. That is the type of product we produce but there is no point in having it unless we tell everybody we have it. Marketing is key to the development of this sector. If we are to achieve its growth, we want to guard against not having anywhere to sell it. A term used in the document Pathways for Growth is the phrase "co-opetition" rather than competition whereby people in the production end do not see themselves as adversaries but as partners. As I mentioned previously, a person said to me at the National Ploughing Championships that we should establish an OPEC-type organisation of food exporting nations, of which there are not that many of us. The key to achieving growth is to be able to sell our product. That cannot be emphasised enough. To develop high-end jobs in this the sector, we must put smart money into smart research, which will allow us to be ahead of the game in innovation. When we developed the sugar beet industry, we developed a sector of expertise in Armer Salmon with the production of machinery to sow, spray and harvest sugar beet. That is an example of how one develops a smart economy.

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