Feargal Quinn (Independent)

I wish to share time with Senator David Norris, with the permission of the House.

The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food is very welcome and I am delighted to see him. It should be noted that I always call him the "Minister for Food and Agriculture" because I believe food depends on the marketplace and the customer. I have some slight problems with what Senator Carty was saying about Danish butter taking the place of Irish butter on the shelves and apparently blaming the multiples. I believe it is up to the customers who rule the marketplace. We would not have a market otherwise and without a market there would be no producers either. It depends on the customers buying food.

To ensure it is profitable for the farmer to produce, two things must happen. The farmer must either cut his or her costs or he or she must get a higher price for products. I recall being at the Irish Management Institute annual conference in KIllarney in 1985 when Avonmore brought down to me samples of a product, at my request, namely, milk in a carton as against milk in a bottle. I take that as an example of the innovation Avonmore as a producer could come up with at that time. I am a great believe in do it yourself and not calling on the Government to do everything. The history of dairy farming in Ireland is based on various successful co-operatives which started 150 years ago and developed throughout the late 19th and 20th centuries to become the very successful enterprises they are now.

If what Senator Coffey has said is right, that it is costs farmers 27 cent to produce a litre of milk for which they only get 20 cent when they sell it, and I have seen those figures before, then the balance must be found in some way or another but it will not happen by asking the Government to do something about it. I am a great believer in the free market economy and maintain that we have to convince people that this is the way to address our difficulties. I am unhappy when I hear taxi drivers saying the number of taxis should be limited. Before we know it, the grocers will be calling for a limit on the number of grocery stores so that they can get a better living as well. To my mind, a solution must be found which is dependent on the marketplace.

Around the world, however, governments are changing. They are now beginning to support the banks, for example, something they would not have done a few years ago. They are supporting the motor car industry as well, as has been done in America and Germany. I can understand that changes are taking place and the Irish Government has learned that the way to support industry is through reducing tax and encouraging incentives, which seems to me to be a much better approach. The Irish Financial Services Centre is a very good example of what has happened in this regard.

What can the Government do? I welcome the fact that the European Commission decided last Thursday to increase export refunds for butter, skimmed milk powder and whole milk powder. The aim is to reduce pressure on the industry. However, I believe further urgent action is needed to help the industry because it plays such a large part in our economy. I support the call for the more aggressive use of export refunds to sell dairy products outside the EU, perhaps using them as Third World aid. We need to make efforts to restore customer confidence in China. I had the opportunity to be in China last year. It is a massively expanding market but it had a major tainted milk scandal last year. I wonder if the Government, Bord Bia or the National Dairy Council are doing anything to promote Irish dairy products in China. The food industry in Europe is worth nearly €1.3 billion and we need to support the renowned Irish quality dairy producer.

The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, has just agreed to tax breaks to help farms struggling due to falling food prices. Perhaps we need to consider something along the same line. There are things we can do but let us not ask the Government to do everything; let us do something ourselves.

I was in the United States recently and was impressed by Kroger, a company with 2,000 branches which is conducting an integrated campaign this month to promote the nutritional benefits of dairy:

Joining the National Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Association Movement to recognise June as national dairy month, the supermarket operator is using print, in-store and on-line materials to pitch affordable prices and healthy consumption.

May I say one more thing before handing over to Senator Norris?