Joe O'Toole (Independent)

I am disappointed the Minister of State did not say something about those appalling stamps called "best before". They should be banned. They are an absolute disgrace. They cause war in my house, because somebody sees that the best before date on a product is two days ago or a month ago and they throw it out because they think it has something to do with health. We need to be told that the best before date is an invention of the manufacturers. The "use by" date is a different thing, which indicates that a product would be dangerous to use after a certain date. I would prefer to hear only if a product would be dangerous if used after a certain date. Best before dates are a marketing ploy which result in much wastage of food and money. Food is dumped out of supermarkets and taken off shelves unnecessarily on a Friday or Saturday evening. The only people who gain are some charitable organisations that hand out food.

I must finish here even though I have a lot more to say. We offer the Minister every support in anything he does to support local foodstuffs and producers as well as local development and processing. He should give these high-profile support and ensure we can all participate. I would certainly travel to any place in this country to help any group in this regard.