Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The position is that our agricultural sectors are supported not just by Bord Bia but by Enterprise Ireland and by all of the international agencies. Indeed, all of our embassies are now very closely aligned to the export drive that our companies are achieving. We are determined to open up new pathways and, as the Deputy knows, Enterprise Ireland has developed a pathfinder programme which allows agricultural companies in particular to open up new markets where they have not been trading before. That approach has been very successful.

The Deputy is right that the agricultural sector is one of those sectors most exposed because it has traditionally had a very high dependence on the UK market. We have to support our companies to diversify, which we will do, but we also need to secure in these negotiations the protection of the standards which the Deputy rightly says Europe values. I can assure him that not just Ireland but Europe will be determined to protect the high standards of food which are vital to quality for consumers and the workings of our markets. As I have been involved in many trade discussions, I know those will be high priorities not just for Ireland but throughout the European Union and for the negotiators.

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