John Paul Phelan (Fine Gael)

I mention the credit crisis, although other Senators have addressed it. For many farmers, the early granting of the single farm payment, which I welcomed at the time, has seen the money spent on meeting overdrafts and loans into which many of them entered because of the farm waste management scheme. Financial institutions got their hands on that money straight away and it has not found its way into farmers' pockets. I deeply regret that NAMA will not lead to a massive circulation of money within the economy. All small business people, including farmers, have difficulty in accessing credit, but the Government has done nothing to try to alleviate the problem.

The last area I wish to address is that of multiples controlling farmers' products and the difficulties experienced by the latter in getting proper prices. The time is right for a legislative provision to attack the control of the large multiples. The three largest control 70% of the grocery sector and are crucifying the manufacturing, processing and agricultural ends. Fine Gael produced a Private Members' Bill to address this issue directly. I ask the Government to do something in the coming months to break the large multiples' control over the grocery sector and ensure that farmers get a fair price for their products.

For the seven years I have been a Senator, labelling has been a constant issue and has not been dealt with by the Government. Perhaps the Minister of State, Deputy Sargent, is the most likely man to pursue it. I hope the Government will take an initiative to ensure that Irish products are correctly labelled as being Irish.

I am a strong supporter of the idea of food tourism, but I have come up against many obstacles. Fáilte Ireland has a sizable initiative in the south east to try to develop food tourism. It has developed in many parts of the EU, but there is no tradition of it in Ireland. Many within the tourism sector-----