Joe O'Toole (Independent)

He is only at the end of the line. He is not present but I have discussed it with him. In fairness, I will not single him out. Let us look at all the steps between the counter and the farmer and see where the money is going. The same applies in restaurants and other places. This is what we should be addressing.

Not a month goes by without our talking about consumers and the prices they have to pay. Senators mentioned costs four times on the Order of Business today and the Leader mentioned them in her reply. We are demanding low costs but we do two things to make sure they will never be attained. First, we have restrictions in the development of businesses at small enterprise level that make it impossible for people to compete on their own level. Second, we have a common law approach such that, no matter what one does, the principle of caveat emptor — buyer beware — applies. Why are we stuck with this? Just because somebody thought about it in the courts 400 years ago does not mean we should retain it. It is time we passed a law and moved away from the common law approach. There is no reason why the principle of caveat emptor should apply. Let us say "caveat vendor" henceforth. This would be a small matter.

I do not know why Irish lamb, agneau Irlandais, is cheaper on the Continent than in Ireland. I have asked the IFA why nobody is following this up. It is absolutely disgraceful. Irish farmers are being exploited.

On the question of meats imported into the European Union, I believe Senator Mansergh mentioned last year that if somebody imports Thai chicken into the Union to a country such as Holland or Ireland, that chicken will be processed in the Union and will not have to meet any other demands to be sold as if it were European. The same applies to Brazilian beef, to which none of the Union's rules on growth promoters apply.

There is much to be addressed in the area of agriculture. Our position should be one of support for the farming community. It has a huge contribution to make and it very often makes its case very badly. This is part of the problem. It is up to us to make the case for the farming community. In the future, environmental issues will be determined by the farmers and the agriculture community, on whom we can rely as long as we give them the necessary support.