Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I do not believe it is possible to have a halfway house for quality assurance. We have one national quality assurance scheme and one national brand. It is important this is as strong as possible. Lots of farmers are concerned about taking on the additional administration involved in quality assurance. The experience has been, from those who have made that move and made that jump, that it is not as onerous and there is nothing to fear, given the trepidation they might have had in advance. The feedback I have had from many farmers is that it is actually a good way to make sure they are in good shape for a Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine inspection, for example. If a farm is picked randomly for a Department inspection, is inspected from an agriculture point of view and something is amiss, the farmer potentially is in line for a penalty. If the farmer is working with the Bord Bia quality assurance officer, however, the farmer will get advice to make sure the farmer is fully compliant and the officer will work with the farmer to make sure that is the case. When the farm is quality assured, the farmer is assured he or she has everything the way it needs to be. It can be useful in that regard.

I understand the Deputy's point. I have heard it throughout the country over the past while, but I have outlined to Deputy Ó Cuív the rationale for the decision and the approach.

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