Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 114: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if in the context of increasing competition for land use between food and fuel production she proposes to protect the consumer from rising prices as a consequence of falling production. [21895/07]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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A range of factors including increased competition from biofuels, increased consumption in Asia and production difficulties due to weather problems in some key production zones are driving up international prices for cereals in particular and also other products. Ireland and the EU are not immune to such international trends. Some recent projections suggest that these price increases will moderate somewhat in the short to medium term, although prices should remain at relatively high levels. While higher commodity prices impact on consumer food prices, a variety of other factors, including the cost of wages, services and other materials also have an impact, as does the level of competition in the retail sector.