Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. This is an important opportunity to discuss a sector and industry that is going through a period which can only be described as dangerously volatile. The horticulture industry is a vital, necessary and hard-working sector. We take for granted our ability to walk into shops and supermarkets and pick up fresh fruit and vegetables and we pay little attention and give little thought to the craft, labour and technique which allows us to do this so effortlessly. I therefore thank and congratulate all the people involved in the sector for the contribution they make in ensuring we lead healthy, nutritious lives and keep up our vital five-a-day food sources.

I said at the outset that this sector is dangerously volatile at present. In 2015, more than 6,000 were employed in the sector, 1,850 of whom were employed in the mushroom sector. We have discussed the problems in the mushroom sector at length. The industry stakeholders have appeared before the agriculture committee, and the evidence they gave was deeply worrying, as I am sure the Minister of State is aware from reading the subsequent transcript. What supports and safeguards have been put in place since then? The mushroom industry accounts for 43% of the horticulture industry and delivers €137 million in sales, according to the Minister of State's presentation. Of this €137 million in sales, more than 80% was made to the UK market. Again, we have discussed this at length, but it is simply unsustainable. In light of Brexit, there is simply too much concentration and over-reliance on the UK market. Smaller markets have been carved out in France, the Netherlands and Germany. It is now up to the Government, with officials from Bord Bia, Enterprise Ireland and whatever other State agencies are required, not only to develop these markets for everyone, but also to identify new markets in Europe and beyond. We cannot sit on our hands and wait for a very successful and viable industry to collapse before our very eyes when new markets can be identified to sustain it. Sterling has strengthened somewhat against the euro recently, but this cannot be taken for granted. In a Bord Bia report of 2015, the outlook was for currencies to remain stable and as a result, despite a decrease in exports, for revenues to do likewise. We now know what has happened and the devastating effect it has had on the mushroom industry in particular. As mentioned already, there is far too much concentration by the horticulture industry on the UK market. Of all food exports, 41%, or €4.4 billion in 2015, was directly to the UK.

Brexit is undoubtedly negative, and we cannot afford to rest. Five mushroom producers have already gone to the wall, with 170 jobs gone. Thankfully, one producer has been purchased and has reopened. Our mushrooms, like all our horticultural and agricultural produce, are recognised as being top quality. Our mushrooms will continue to be produced, so the imperative is on the Minister of State's Department to talk to the other countries and smaller markets already mentioned and to identify new markets into which to expand. Brexit in this regard then should be seen as an opportunity to expand rather than to rest on our laurels and watch the industry collapse before our very eyes. Similarly, there is real capacity for growth and export-led trade in other sectors of the horticulture industry.

The world's population is constantly increasing. This population needs to be fed. Ireland with its climate, quality and standard of produce can become a leader in food production. Fields of vegetables, fruit, potatoes, mushrooms and salad leaves can all be grown quite successfully on our shores and exported into new markets. Prepared consumer food is a sector that has huge potential for growth. In these times of convenience and fast-paced lives, pizzas, sauces, soups and value-added agriculture have longer shelf lives compared with fresh produce, while maintaining the quality of Irish produce.

Expanding and creating new markets is one suggestion I have put forward that will help support and sustain our horticulture industry. There are others. In my party's alternative budget, we costed the setting up of a national horticulture industry forum. The Minister of State's Government has also committed to this. Why is this industry in crisis still waiting for this to happen? This forum needs to be set up without delay and on an all-Ireland basis. The Border does not recognise the problems now threatening the survival of the sector, and island-wide participation is therefore needed. The European Union also needs to step up to the mark in this regard. The horticulture industry needs supports and subsidies to see out the Brexit storm. Similar emphasis needs to be placed on this industry as on agriculture to get over Brexit and what is in essence a European problem in which we are all implicated as a result of the decision of voters in the UK.

I have one last issue to raise. Below-cost selling of fresh produce by the multiples and large supermarkets is demeaning and disparaging of the hard work and labour that Irish producers put into producing top-quality produce. This practice, which happens day in and day out, needs to be stopped, and this fresh, nutritious food needs to be respected. I call on the Minister of State again to consider bringing in measures to stop this practice. Lastly, I again thank our producers in this industry for the effort they put in and I appeal to our consumers, without sounding too protectionist, to buy Irish, support Irish jobs and help keep the Irish horticulture industry going from strength to strength.