Feargal Quinn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I support Senator Mary Ann O'Brien's words on food labelling, especially on Irish food. There is a huge amount of work to be done in that regard. I imagine it is for the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to do it. It is not just a question of identifying Irish food and putting customers' minds at rest, it is also a question of using "best before" instead of "use by" when it comes to the date used. There are other aspects too which may require new food labelling legislation. There is a danger that to a significant extent the European Union rules what we can do. At some point we have to stand up and say this is in our interests and that we must do something about it. I know that Senator Mary Ann O'Brien arranged a visit here last week by the retailers who were concerned about customers asking could they trust them. Retailers have to rely on somebody they can trust and food labelling is one direction in which we can go in achieving this.

I must declare an interest - I am involved in a group for crowd funding and attended a meeting this morning. I brought up the question of crowd funding to finance small businesses. It has been used in Britain for ten or 15 years and the concept has been embraced in America. A large number of people can each put a small amount of money into small businesses and, I suppose, even large businesses. It is called linked finance, but it is part of what we call crowd funding. We have talked about during the years and it is being launched this morning. I fully support it because it is worthwhile and a reminder of the work we can do in this House in drawing attention to things that are happening in other parts of the world from which we can benefit.