John Gerard Hanafin (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I share the sentiments expressed by Senator Butler. It is easy to make a speech and then forget about it, but he has rightly reminded us not to do so. I am conscious of our own history, which was brought back to us recently in the television programme "Who Do You Think You Are?" In that programme, Mr. Eddie Hobbs spoke about the situation in Cork during the Famine. At the time, the bridges in Cork were blocked off to stop people from the countryside entering the city to search for food. At the same time, the holds of ships leaving Cork harbour were laden with food. The situation is similar in many African countries today.

Ireland is a rich agricultural country. We export 90% of our beef products. We are a major food exporter. The situation in many African countries is similar and that is what makes it so upsetting, in a sense. Many of these countries produce cash crops to repay loans which were taken out for infrastructural projects with endemic corruption.