Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

That is a fair point. With the development of the artisan food sector in Ireland, we are finding new ways of adding value to product that can target different types of premium markets. In the past we were very much a commodity food producer. We produced milk to produce cheese or milk powder but now we produce milk to produce both products and, on top of that, we produce sports nutrition drinks ingredients and infant formula, products at the high end of the value added sector, and we are doing the same with beef. We are the only country in the world that can measure the carbon footprint of our beef herds. Some 5,000 farms a week are currently being measured and their carbon footprint being taken by Bord Bia. We have 26,000 beef farms in Ireland and they now have the capacity to label their beef with a carbon footprint label. We are learning how to add value to what is a very special product coming out of Ireland and to measure that and provide the science and data that can convince consumers that they should spend more on it. This is a sector that perhaps we should be considering as well. We have no definition in legislation for free range pork products or pigs, unlike in the poultry sector in terms of eggs. I will talk to the Department about this area. It is an one that Bord Bia is examining in terms of its quality assurance scheme as it applies to pig production. It is examining ways in which it can incorporate not only organic pork but free range pork products as part of that label. I can send the Deputy more on it when I get it from Bord Bia.

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