Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In terms of market access, we are dealing with the competent authorities of other jurisdictions who see their function as being to make sure that they are protecting their consumers in terms of the quality of the product. If it was a case of meeting a universal standard, I have no doubt we would meet it. No individual country is going to cede its sovereignty in that area, so we have to work and engage with the competent authorities in every country. The Turkish authorities are in the Department this week to consider how we might improve our trade there. The Department received communication this morning from our embassy in Egypt about a delegation coming from Egypt later in the year. We are constantly on alert and working with the industry to improve the terms and conditions under which we trade with those countries. The UK market is geographically the closest to us and geography is a huge determinant of where we should and do trade, but the China market will grow significantly this year. In the first quarter of this year we have put in nearly 1,000 tonnes where we put in 1,400 last year.

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