Mary Ann O'Brien (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I extend a warm welcome to Gay Mitchell, MEP, and thank him for coming to the House and for his wonderful speech in celebration of the 40th anniversary of our membership of the EU. Like the previous speaker, I will mention some wonderful commercial developments that have benefited our country. A total of 60% of our exports go to Europe, with 79% of our food exports going there. A very controversial development, on which I would welcome Mr. Mitchell's comments later, is the fact that one in five Irish beefburgers is sold in European branches of McDonald's every day. One in every pack of Kerrygold is sold here in Ireland while seven are sold in Europe. A total of 80% of our visitors come from Europe, which I cannot believe, and ¤40 billion of our turnover comes from European-owned companies in Ireland.

These are wonderful positives arising out of EU membership but I will move on to things that might not be so positive. I am due to travel to Germany this Friday to attend a big global fair in Cologne which exhibits all the chocolates, biscuits, crisps and sweets of the world. Everyone probably wants to come with me because it sounds like good fun. It is so wonderful to be an Irish company over there with the 100 other Belgians who are making chocolates, the Germans and the French although we must remember we are from an island so sometimes there is a slight disadvantage to that. It is a wonderful opportunity for a small Irish company to be able to go to Europe. In respect of euros and dollars,12 to 15 years ago when we had the punt, it was very hard to get one's head up and be taken seriously as a woman making chocolates.

In saying that, some laws made in Europe simply do not suit this small country. There are so many EU laws. Could Mr. Mitchell comment on that and tell us how we could be better watchdogs in making sure something does not slip through that does not suit us? I would like him to look at and possibly champion the labelling of alcohol. The former Minister for Health, Deputy Micheál Martin, did this with regard to cigarette smoking and this development spread throughout the rest of Europe.