John Ellis (Fianna Fail)

As with the other Members, I compliment the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Taoiseach on the way in which they dealt with the crisis over the past week. They proved they would not stand idly by and probably went past what was necessary, but when dealing with people's food and health, one must err on the side of caution rather than take risks.

The incident poses a question on the future of how our food is developed, which I indicated in the debate yesterday evening. I ask the Leader to consider having a debate as soon as we return after Christmas on why primary producers are being forced to produce food at uneconomic prices. The net result is what we saw last week. There is an economic level in the production process.

The margins being taken by some of the multinational retailers in this country are completely out of line with what is going to the primary producer. Something must be done if we are to ensure we have people producing food. We all know the biggest scare facing the world over the next ten years will be a food shortage. This must be considered constructively rather than in the way it is being considered currently by the multinationals, who seem to have taken over the bulk of the retail trade in this country to the detriment of producers. We have seen it happen in the UK and it is now spreading to here.

On Tuesday's Order of Business I raised the question of roads being gritted around the country. I compliment the Minister for Transport who wrote to all local authorities yesterday, instructing them that they had a responsibility to carry out this work as they are being funded for it by the NRA. I appreciate the action taken by the Minister. Is it possible, following the Christmas recess, to have a debate on the road infrastructure, its development and the need for continued investment in our national road and rail network to allow us emerge from the current economic recession in a better position with regard to infrastructure?