Paddy Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I raised everything I had intended to raise, albeit briefly.

Food packaging is a multibillion euro area and new food packaging systems can be put in place now that allow food to be transported further and further throughout the world. The modified air system means the air in the carton or box is modified and kept at a certain temperature. Trials have shown that blueberries can last for 42 additional days after the box is opened. They are packaged, held in cold storage and then placed on the shelf. This is a big breakthrough. We have not seen any change to fruit and vegetable packaging in the past 30 years. Since the introduction of the tomato box, there has been very little change in the way stoned fruit and vegetables are packaged.This type of modified air packaging gives considerable additional time to fresh flowers and would revolutionise the industry by using sea transport rather than air transport, which is used at the moment. The packaging would give shops and the people who work in the area more time to sell flowers because the sector is vulnerable, the produce is pricey and a lot of money is involved.

Regarding trials, surveys should be carried out. Many projects have been held up over the years by the intended displacement of certain species. Has that been as detrimental as proposed? We do not seem to have trials to say the Naas dual carriageway project went ahead and had a detrimental effect on a snail species. I wonder whether it had a detrimental effect. Did the snail move elsewhere? Has that snail species become extinct? What would have been the consequences if the Naas dual carriageway project had gone ahead at the time?