Aidan Davitt (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I know that much work has gone into this and I have discussed it briefly with the Minister. I know it ties into the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union (Consequential Provisions) Act 2019, which we have discussed at length. It has been a while coming and that is the only downside. We have talked about the measures for quite a while. The Minister has presented it and I know we are trying to complete all Stages today, which is very helpful. I know much of the good work that has been done by Enterprise Ireland and associated bodies to promote Ireland and its businesses. Funding streams are now in place that will be a help in the event of a hard Brexit.

The Minister talks about many different markets and the funding to promote our businesses. The Minister is aware of the carbon footprint of products, which we hear more about every day. When I was in Russia recently, a well-known Irish brand of dairy product was for sale in a Russian supermarket, which caught my eye. I estimate that it was probably half the price of what it would cost in Ireland. I do not know if it was discounted. I do not know if we are just trying to gain more market share. How sustainable are some of these markets with regard to the carbon footprint? Is that taken into consideration when looking at these foreign markets? Do we give much thought to it? We are doing much good work in other countries and I do not want to take away from the good work the Department does. Are we looking at the long-term status of these markets and where we can go with them? Flying something to China or South America is a hell of a long way.