Shane McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)

That could take two hours. I thank everybody for making a contribution. I am probably not in a position to tell certain speakers what will happen regarding matters they raised and will return to them.

I refer to the first issue, namely, what happened in Germany. If we had been as quick as the Germans were to blame others for their cucumbers we would now be closed down as a country. The first thing I learned about traceability in regard to a food problem when I went into my Department - an eye-opener when one is not used to it - is that within two seconds, or one telephone call, everybody is involved in tracing what went wrong and making a decision concerning our food industry. All those people, from the veterinary end and other areas, are available and this is something of which we should be very proud. We have the best people in the world - that is not to tempt fate. The Germans blamed somebody else but one should never tempt fate. In this industry we know that what can go wrong will go wrong and we have had some such instances. We should always work and progress the latest and most up-to-date technology and scientific information if we are to grow the industry. I have seen this in Monaghan Mushrooms, CNP, which has 62% of the market. All the growers were going out of business but decided to form a PO within the industry. That should be the model for everybody.

We have an obligation. Senators may ask what the greyhound industry has to do with food safety and Senator Quinn made a fair comment in one regard. A person might ask me what forestry has to do with food safety in this country. However, we must grow our industry. For the past three or four years I have been told that cow numbers or beef numbers could not be increased because of environmental issues. The poor old cow is blamed for everything. However, now one has been educated to realise that if we grow our forests in conjunction with our beef and dairy industries the whole lot works hand in hand. It is the same in the greyhound industry although it may not be related to food safety. I have visited most of the 16 or 17 tracks. Those where food is not served have poor attendances. Last Saturday I was invited to the track in Limerick, a place to which one could bring anybody in the world. It is not only about seeing dogs, or eating, but about getting the best food that one might find anywhere. There were 300 or 400 people sitting down, hen parties, and so on. It is all related, as is the growth in the industry.

Many points have been made, including the issue of young people who want to get into the industry and the training centres, as Senator O'Keeffe rightly noted. A large number of big restaurants have closed down, including a couple in my own county where we already promoted the notion of one person using these premises for two days, followed by another person for another two days. They use the facility to learn how to cook properly and prepare meals, or whatever. We cannot allow anything stop growth in jobs. In my portfolio this comes at the lower end, the least recognised areas, whether in horticulture or forestry. They must be protected first.

Senator Quinn may be annoyed about this but I could become twice as annoyed at what I have discovered. This will be addressed. Twenty years ago there were 2,000 vegetable growers in the country. Ten years ago there were 1,000. Now there are 200. If we do not start protecting them by getting their produce on the shelves in an orderly fashion they, too, will go. I realise how important the big supermarkets are in the provision of food and everything else. However, the most hurtful thing I experienced in the past three or four months was sitting down with people in the horticulture and processing business and seeing they were afraid. They were afraid that I would speak about what was happening to them and how they are being treated. As a person who comes from an agricultural background I know this should not be allowed and have started a process to ensure it will not. This is not about getting into a row with supermarkets. I will act in a proper fashion. If we allow matters to continue the way they are going we will not have a vegetable or a tomato growing in this country. There will be no horticulture industry. All I ask for, ultimately, is that if there is a shelf in a supermarket it will have Irish-grown produce and non-Irish produce. That is not to ask too much.

Labelling is a massive issue in this country and the debate on this will become stronger. Nobody questions Irish beef because it is the bigger end of the industry. Irish beef and milk products will sell anywhere but it is the small industries in our agriculture sector that are attacked. It is very annoying to sit down with a farmer who says "Don't say you were talking to me". That is wrong. The mushroom industry got that right. Those processors were out of business two or three years ago but they got together and formed a PO. They now have something the world wants, from a technology point of view as well as product, and have 62% of the market. We can do the same with all aspects of our smaller industries in the horticultural and food ends of the business.

Senator Quinn was annoyed but I get twice as annoyed, as a person who has gone around the country. Perhaps he will say I am farm oriented. However, the multinationals need us as much as we need them. I predict that in two years' time we will not have a single person in horticulture if we do not establish proper and fair labelling for food on the shelf. If materials are added to or taken away from the product let this be stated, but let one issue not hide another behind it. That is at the heart of all this. My portfolio is about protecting the 33,000 jobs involved in the three areas in question but it also concerns growing. We must work together. Many issues were discussed in the Chamber by Senators, including that of raw milk whereto names of different people were dropped. Ireland is an exporting country. If there is any doubt about a process or any risk involved, one does not take the action in question, for health reasons. Those who grew up in farming communities in the 1970s and 1980s knew there were consequences from drinking raw milk. I know it. If there is a doubt about it, an exporting country like ours should not do it unless we know it is 100% safe.

Regarding the forestry industry, it goes hand in hand with this area and it has to do with energy costs and so on. The more we use our forests for wood pellet production or whatever the better and when the refit tariff comes in we will have cheaper energy costs. All of that helps to bring down the cost of food production.

I would spend hours debating this issue. We could have the Minister for Health and others here to discuss health and safety but everything to do with agriculture has a health and safety aspect to it.

We have the best regulations in the world in regard to safety and traceability. The Food Safety Authority of Ireland is an independent body. I met its representatives for the first time last week and I know they will put the consumer first. They will make a decision based on the consumer and once that is done, we will deal with everything else.

This is a growing industry and we will make it grow. The contributions of all Members will help that materialise but we must be in a position whereby the people who grow the food adhere to the best regulations in the world. It is important that we market the industry, be it at greyhound tracks or wherever. Almost every Senator and TD has a rural or food producing connection. We must get out and sell what is good. The jobs are being created on the ground. I would like to see more Irish people getting involved in horticulture where there are good jobs available. When those jobs are advertised, people should apply for them.

There are many issues I did not address individually but I will refer to my notes and get back to the Senator in regard to the question she raised. I may meet the Senator for perhaps half an hour to discuss it. I have not been briefed on the point the Senator was making and I would like to hear it again with a view to acting on it. I thank the Members.