Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail)

I thank the Minister of State for the correction. I would like to see more such studies and more of those results being promulgated so the general public can be assured. In my view, organic food tastes better and it is better for my health but I am not so certain that everybody agrees and it may have to be proven a bit more.

The Minister of State is to be commended for the work he has done in farmers' markets which above all else benefit the organic producer. Such markets help to cut out the middle man and help to make organic produce more competitive. The produce is presented in a friendly, happy atmosphere and the food is nicely presented and everybody is happy and people will buy there.

Senator Buttimer referred to the recent controversy about Bord Bia. I took a very dim view of the attack on Bord Bia by that particular celebrity chef. Every State board can be criticised and everyone is entitled to his or her opinion but since I took on this portfolio I have found Bord Bia to be very supportive with an excellent professional staff who are driven to succeed and driven by the desire to market Irish products abroad to the best of their ability and we as public representatives should stand up for State bodies. Bord Bia does not have an easy job and anyone can take a cheap shot. It is very unbecoming at a time of economic crisis when we as a nation should be pulling together to have a public squabble which indirectly brings into question the reputation of Irish foods. It was a disgrace and I have complete faith in Bord Bia and am thrilled to hear what the Minister of State stated in his opening contribution about Bord Bia being successful in the lucrative German market. I commend the Minister of State for taking that initiative and for going to Germany himself.

Labelling of produce has been discussed previously in the House and it is an important element which should be addressed again. Bord Bia has been proactive in this regard, as has the Minister of State. I am delighted there is now a range of sanctions against people who are rogue organic producers. The fines rise to a maximum of €5,000 and goods and vehicles may be impounded.

The UK beef market is encouraging. It is a very significant market for Irish produce, worth €2.1 billion and we can grow our slice of that market. The orthodox beef products are in competition with the Argentinian and Brazilian beef producers. We know that Irish beef is better than South American beef but the British public are quite discerning and they look for value. However I have no doubt that the discerning British customer will know that organic Irish beef is vastly superior to any beef product from the rest of the world. I commend the actions taken and I ask the Minister of State to drive that programme to the best of his ability.

Last year the Minister of State was involved in the establishment of the Kerry organic feasibility study. I spoke to the chairman of the group this morning who is a great friend of mine even though he belongs to the ranks of Tuscany, the great councillor, Johnny "Porridge" O'Connor, well known to my colleague opposite. I asked him how the study was faring as I was going to speak in the House today. He gave the study the thumbs-up and he thinks it is progressing very well. They are making concerted efforts to increase their markets and trying hard to move into the hotels and to persuade hotels to designate certain menus as being organic and to develop the farmers' markets and make them more widespread in the south west. He asked me to make one or two points to the Minister of State. He believes there is an over-abundance of red tape in some aspects of designation of organic products and maybe a little over-policing. He was quite positive in his comments but he sees a difficulty in having Kerry lamb designated as organic because to all intents and purposes it really is an organic product and is a very healthy food but because at one time in the year some artificial fertiliser needs to be used, it is not regarded as organic. I ask the Minister of State to address this issue if possible but the group is very grateful to him for his involvement and is generally very positive even though some are members of the parties opposite.

It would be very regrettable if in our new economic situation we got a dumbing down of our attitude to quality food or an impoverished thinking as regards what we should eat. I trust in and depend on the Minister of State to ensure this does not happen, and I have the utmost confidence in him.