Ulick Burke (Fine Gael)

Now, the wheel is turning again with the arrival of farmers' markets where farmers can sell their produce in the open air. It is happening all over Europe and now we have decided we can do it here once more. Many people, some now gone from farming, attempted previously to be innovative but they were stymied in their efforts by over-enthusiastic regulators.

One of my constituents runs a top-class restaurant. He was approached approximately 18 months ago by a person who told him that to get accreditation under the Féile Bia scheme he would have to get his meat from a particular source. I raised this previously in the House with one of the Ministers of State at the Department of Agriculture and Food. My constituent was already getting his meat from local farmers and knew the quality of his product. However, this person, who was representing Féile Bia, was forcing him into a situation where he would have to buy his meat from a particular wholesaler. It was well known that the wholesaler was importing South American beef and relabelling it as Irish.

My constituent refused to get accreditation from Féile Bia if that was what it involved. He reported it to the appropriate authorities and the person disappeared. There was no more about accreditation.