The establishment of An Bord Bia was recommended by the Expert Group on the Food Industry which included experts from all areas of that industry. However, there was one dissenting voice and a minority report was presented. The Government has decided that the responsibility for An Bord Bia rests with the Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry. The debate on that issue is over.
In regard to the point raised by the Deputy that we have an organisation promoting the food industry, it is true to say that An Bord Tráchtála has food functions but there are other bodies also who carry out such functions, in particular CBF. In regard to the Deputy's other point that An Bord Bia is producer driven, the board deals solely with exports. That is the brief of the board. The whole emphasis in the expert group's report is on the consumer, consumer demands and the thrust of production being consumer driven. The point the Deputy made is inaccurate and she should read the report of the food group.
The Deputy referred to fragmentation in relation to our export drive. The whole thrust of An Bord Bia is to streamline what is taking place, bring the various elements together and give better value to the taxpayer in terms of the promotion of our Irish product and of assisting the food companies to launch their products or to continue to promote and market those products on the European market and further afield.