Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I did not ask the Minister about on-farm diesel costs, which is a subject for another day. My question focussed explicitly on the agricultural industry - in other words, the cost of moving milk from the farm to the processor and on to the market. In addition, timber is a major cost issue because it is bulky and obviously it is provided to the food sector by the agricultural industry.

When the Government came into power it said it was about creating jobs. In opposition it emphasised the issue of competitiveness. We live on an island off another island, which is off the European mainland. Does the Minister accept that natural resource industries, such as forestry, food and agriculture generally, have particularly high transport costs? While we cannot do anything about world oil prices, the cost of the Government-imposed taxation on transport costs is having an effect on the competitiveness of Irish agriculture, food and forestry.

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