Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There is no substance to what Deputy Tóibín is saying. The Government is massively committed to supporting farmers at all stages of their careers. The Deputy should have noticed the historic step we have taken in the legislation we are bringing through the Houses, which will complete that journey next Wednesday, in relation to the new food regulator. The Bill is very much about ensuring there is transparency and fairness throughout the food supply chain. Some 90% of the products we produce in this country go abroad. Regardless of which market in which part of the world is involved, the Bill will provide transparency to ensure as much value as possible is delivered to where most of the work happens, namely, the farm gate. We are not selling a pig in a poke to farmers in the way Deputy Tóibín is. He had a Bill, although I have not heard about it in the last few years.

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