David Norris (Independent)

I stand reproved. I am sure Senator White, who is a decent person, will accept that conditions in the cacao harvest in certain central American countries were completely abominable, involving the exploitation of child labour.

It is interesting that when the Fairtrade movement began in the 1950s and 1960s, it was largely a religious movement. That is still reflected to a certain extent in the organisations involved, which include Christian Aid, Comhlámh, Concern, Oxfam, Irish Aid, Action Aid and Trócaire, as well as some trade union groups. We should pay tribute to them. The political organisation was started in the Netherlands in the 1960s. Senator Quinn played an interesting role by being involved in the 1996 launch of Bewley's Fairtrade coffee in Ireland. The association with Bewley's is appropriate because the Bewleys were a great Quaker family who had a sense of justice and fair play. The interesting thing is the way in which the market has grown exponentially. After the launch in 1996, sales of Fairtrade coffee reached €1 million in 2002, while in 2007 they reached €20 million. That is an enormous and marvellous increase.

We have improved on this with the development of Fairtrade labelling. In Europe, some Fairtrade-marked goods have a 20% national market share, and sales are growing by 40% every year, which is interesting. Towns all over Ireland have become involved by having the local council pass a resolution and setting proportionate targets per head of population in terms of retail outlets, catering companies, and so on.