Joe O'Toole (Independent)

When people in Melton Mowbray took on the major supermarket retailers in the United Kingdom, they were laughed at but they fought and won their case. As a result, the town owns the title of "Melton Mowbray" pork pie, which means that if Tesco or other retailers want to sell these pies, they must comply with the direction, regulation and arrangements made by the town. I would like the same to be done in the case of Dingle pies, Limerick ham and many other Irish products. There are, for example, many cheeses in Senator Prendergast's county - Cashel Blue is one - which are defined by their name.

For the people of Cashel, this means Cashel Blue cannot be made in Dingle. It is more than an Irish commodity; it is about developing the infrastructure of the area, something we are bad at.

I am not only interested in one-year old lambs. One-year old chickens, or capons, are sold all over the Continent and often numbered, just like a bottle of wine, according to area of origin. They are more expensive to buy, but we are not doing this. At the end of the day, it is all defined by those buying food. That is the objective of farming, at which we need to look carefully. However, we should not look at this issue solely on the basis of the CAP envelope we receive. It is about more than that because the envelope will only continue to be received if we get the other bits and pieces right.

The grass-based production system used in Ireland can deliver. It lifted my heart to drive through the countryside in the last month and see cattle on the grass again. People complain about the weather, but farmers in the south of France cannot let their cattle out in the summer because it is either too hot or they have something they want to grow. We have the production capacity which we need to protect. This is even more attractive for an island nation.

We should support the IFA which is well meaning. There is nothing wrong with being a self-interest group because we have to have people who will look after farmers' interests. The IFA has its own proposals to make on sustainable food production, maintaining young farmers in the industry, rural development and so on, all of which are of crucial importance to Irish society.

I compliment the Minister on the work that he and his officials are doing. It is difficult work and there is not great support for agricultural policy in many of the industrialised countries in Europe which must learn that they must eat, as well as make money. Their long-term prospects are best protected by supporting the Common Agricultural Policy that is in place for the benefit of everybody. Ireland can play a huge role in becoming part of the food basket of Europe. That should be our objective.