Cathal Byrne (Fine Gael)

I raise an issue about the tillage sector that came before the agricultural committee yesterday. I spoke in this Chamber recently about the impact that low grain prices are having in my home county of Wexford, where we have a very strong and vibrant tillage sector. Unfortunately, as things are at the moment, tillage farmers have told me that they do not see a future in the sector and that this is the worst year in a generation.

One of the issues highlighted yesterday before the Oireachtas agricultural committee was that, at present, one can market Irish whiskey without a need for Irish grain in the whiskey. There could be a situation where Irish whiskey can be sold and successfully labelled as such while the only ingredient that comes from Ireland is water. I encourage the Deputy Leader to ask the Minister responsible for this area to come before the House and make a statement on this matter. If we are to support our tillage sector, there should be a food labelling requirement that grain from Ireland must be used when marketing something as Irish whiskey.