Ulick Burke (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister. Apart from the reservations expressed in the House there are many other organisations involved in food production that have reservations about this Bill. Any time there is talk of a review or rationalisation, this effectively means cutbacks. I would prefer to call this an abolition of An Bord Glas rather than an amalgamation and that is a very regrettable situation. The autonomy of An Bord Glas will be lost in this new set-up.

No research, innovation, trials or development are operative in the agricultural sector. The closure of the Teagasc research centre at Clonroche was the first indication that all was not well and that the Minister and his Department were overseeing rationalisation and cuts. It is regrettable that one of the best centres for trials and development under the auspices of Teagasc has been closed and sold. The rapidity and speed with which that was done was unbelievable. Teagasc was established to take over from the old advisory services of the Department of Agriculture and Food. These services were progressive forces in agriculture and gave a new impetus from the early 1970s. They advised on investment in agriculture but now they are all gone and the Minister has presided over their effective abolition. The Minister has spent a decade in his ministry and has made very important and worthwhile changes. The sad thing about it is that the only function of Teagasc that we see on the ground is to prepare for the exit of many farmers from the industry. I ask the Minister, who is presiding over it, if that is good enough and if he is happy with it. I certainly do not feel happy with it. It is regrettable that Teagasc is taking on board the role of catering for part-time farmers and the eventual exit of many people from agriculture.

I wish to highlight a matter of shame which I would like the Minister for Agriculture and Food to address as a matter of urgency. Representatives of Bord Bia and the Department can enter a high class restaurant and ask its proprietor if he or she wants Bord Bia certification to be displayed on the premises. If the restaurateur agrees to display the certification, which is a major advantage, he or she is asked to sign a contract for the purchase of beef from a particular wholesaler in this country. In a case with which I am familiar, however, the proprietor was not willing to sign such a contract. The man in question produces top quality Galway beef, which is free from hormones and drugs, from his fields which adjoin his restaurant. He was astounded to be told that he could not receive certification for his beef and that the beef on sale in his restaurant had to be channelled through a specific wholesaler. He decided not to participate in the certification scheme.

It is regrettable that a producer of beef could not receive certification for his own quality product from the body which certifies Irish beef and other quality products which are available in his restaurant and many others throughout the country. When he inquired into the status of the wholesale company with which he was asked to sign an agreement, he found that much of the beef it was distributing for the catering industry was sourced in South America. It is important that the Minister should investigate this matter immediately so that this rot can be stopped. Ireland contributed to EU beef mountains on various occasions over the years. The prices received by the farmers of Ireland decreased as a consequence. If we are to promote a quality Irish product, which is a suitable description of all Irish beef, we should ensure that we do not lose out on the domestic market.

I call into question the provisions of this Bill on the basis of the matters I have outlined. The Minister proposes to give Bord Bia the power to promote Irish goods and products as quality products, despite the fact that we are aware that it is engaging in practices such as I have described. I am aware that some Irish exporters of beef fiddled the books in the past. They introduced an inferior quality of product to the global export market. It was regrettable that it took a long time to revive the quality image of Irish products. I hope the damage done then has long since passed and that we can promote such products again.

Can the Minister guarantee that this amalgamation, or the subsuming of An Bord Glas into Bord Bia, will maintain support for the vegetables and other horticultural products that he mentioned in his address? Will he guarantee that such products will be supported? I do not want them to lose their identity when they are part of a bigger area of responsibility within Bord Bia. If there is a loss of identity, it will not be a surprise if one finds imported products of a lesser quality when one goes to the vegetable shop. Many Senators on both sides have mentioned that imported products do not have the same quality as the Irish product. It is regrettable that the major retail chains have to search outside this country, in Europe or elsewhere, for a continuity of supply. If a level playing pitch is put in place and the large monopoly chains try to find the cheapest possible product, we will have the potential and the capacity to produce such a supply in this country.

It is regrettable that a free 10 kg. bag of potatoes is being offered with every €30 of purchases. While such practices are allowed to thrive, we cannot say that we are in any way determined to support vegetable producers, horticultural production and many other aspects of Bord Bia's remit. Can the Minister state whether Bord Bia has sourced any new market for Irish products? I refer to a new breakthrough market in any part of the world. The Minister's global statement that we are breaking into new markets for various products every day, every week and every year is too all-embracing. I appreciate that it is difficult to provide details off the cuff, but I would like him to name the specific new markets of a worthwhile nature that have been accessed and will continue to be accessed with a degree of continuity as a result of the initiatives of Bord Bia.

If we are to restore confidence to agriculture, it is important that the Minister can give some hope to this intensive area. Agriculture is becoming an exit industry. Industries such as vegetable production, horticulture and dairying are directly related to great agricultural intensity. The changes being proposed by the Minister in this Bill will be worthwhile if he can offer a ray of hope. Is there a possibility of guaranteeing top class prices to farmers for top class products that are presented well? If there is no such guarantee, everybody will become suspicious and demoralised by the demise of agriculture.