John Crown (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. I support my colleague's Bill. Few people can speak with as much authority on the subject as Senator Quinn. Few people have looked at the food supply industry as well as considered the needs and wants of consumers. Food, water and energy are the big three in determining our survival as a species in the 21st century. The supply and shepherding of the resources of food, water and energy are critical for our survival. Long after the last investment banker is flipping burgers in a fast-food joint and long after the last hedge-fund manager is dancing for hen parties in Temple Bar, we are still going to need farmers, fishermen and food producers in the future. Ireland has few enough natural resources but one critical resource is our ability to produce food. It has been estimated that our little windswept, wet island could support in food alone a population of between 30 and 50 times the current population, and equal to the population of Japan plus that of the United Kingdom. Many countries are considered as economic powerhouses with huge economies. China and Japan are in the top three of world economies but they are not food-independent and they require large imports of food to keep themselves afloat. While we consider our awful economic vulnerability to the tides of international commerce, we are pretty secure because it is unlikely we will run out of water and food although we will need to put on our thinking caps with regard to energy. It is critical to develop our food sector to its maximum efficiency.

We probably do not have the mega industrial-scale ranches nor the huge international food producers - although we have some - but we can leverage certain aspects. Our reputation has been somewhat sullied by the horsemeat scandal and by a number of scandals over the past 30 years but it exists with regard to our food produce, our tourism, our culture and for having a relatively close to nature, rural and less polluted society. These aspects resonate with many of those who visit our country and many of those who want to buy food from our country. It is critical to do everything in our power to protect this resource. It is a no-brainer, in my view. We should be way out ahead of the curve and the posse. Not everything Europe does is right; some of what it does is unbelievably swayed by, in some cases, very influential and, in my view, corrupt lobbyists. I argue there is no law which we enact that cannot be repealed if it is ultimately brought to our attention that this is necessary. We have sadly seen what can happen to even a crusading, campaigning health Minister like Deputy Reilly. I refer to the one bit of tobacco legislation he brought to the House which liberalised the sale of tobacco as a result of highly nefarious rulings made by the European courts on behalf of really regrettable forces in Europe, some of which are related to agriculture. For that reason our European colleagues must be regarded as our partners in Europe but also as our customers. They buy most of the food we sell and they will be reassured if we set the bar extremely high. However, I remind the Minister of State that they are also our competitors. We must do everything by way of product differentiation to make Brand Ireland food wholesome, healthy, traceable, back to nature, less processed and with known provenance.

The marketing opportunities are endless. This has been done domestically in some of the campaigns of both the supermarkets and some of the food suppliers, where individual farmers are filmed walking their herds across the fields. This is what we should be aiming to do internationally. An essential part of the campaign is that people know the food they think is from Ireland was actually grown, reared and processed in Ireland, and is not some kind of swiz put out by less reliable markets, branded here and marketed as being from here by packaging or preparation.

I thank the Minister of State for his time and wish him all the best in his Ministry in the years to come.