Feargal Quinn (Independent)

The retail and wholesale trade represents 14% of all employment in Ireland. It is a valuable sector. There have been a couple of articles in the newspapers this week about a Forfás report which stated that goods - fashion goods as well as grocery goods - are being sourced to a large extent from British suppliers and that European suppliers regard Ireland as a subset of the United Kingdom. This is likely to have serious effects on Irish suppliers.

This week, the Minister appointed John Travers, a good man, to be in charge of the development of a code of conduct for the grocery trade in Ireland which will deal with relationships between retailers and suppliers. This only applies and can only apply to Irish suppliers. Those in Britain are not affected by it. This will put more pressure on Irish suppliers in the years ahead.

There is a danger in that we think we can pass laws and regulations that apply to Ireland only. We forget we are part of Europe. We must think carefully before introducing regulations and setting up codes of practice which will only apply to Ireland. This will affect only Irish suppliers and will place them at a disadvantage by encouraging retailers to go abroad. Let us consider this again. We must remember we are part of Europe and cannot do everything ourselves. As part of Europe, we must look abroad.