Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree with Deputy Griffin that the UK will remain an important market for Irish food and drink. Since the result of the Brexit referendum, however, we have stepped up the efforts of diversification, and in my role with responsibility for new market development in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, I have worked very closely with the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, and we have opened and improved access to markets around the world. We have looked also to grow our European markets to reduce the risk attached to an overdependency on the UK market that is now outside the Single Market.

Two of the most valuable markets, the USA and China, are non-EU markets, and in fact ten of the top 20 markets are. They stretch from Japan to Canada, both of which are examples of where we have improved access now. These markets may seem far removed from the Irish farm, but what happens on the shelves of the Canadian supermarkets or in restaurants in Japan actually really matters. We will continue to work to expand these and other markets to ensure we can position Irish produce to the highest value and obtain the best return possible for our farmers.

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