We have spoken about it.

No, it has not.

On a point of order, a Cheann Comhairle, I have asked the question in respect of-----

A Cheann Comhairle, may I make a point of order?

I have a point of order.

I would like to make a point of order that the Taoiseach has clearly misled this House.

Has Fianna Fáil given it to charity?

Has it given the money back to charity?

That is the law.

The law is they have to give that money to charity. They have to abide by the law.

He is not answering. The Taoiseach is refusing to answer the question, a Cheann Comhairle.

This is some farce. We are here to make statements on transport and the Minister for Transport is not even here. He has left. The Minister of State who is here is not even assigned to the Department of Transport. When the Minister did speak, he spoke for 20 minutes without reference to the one aspect of transport policy that the whole country is talking about, that is, the debacle at Dublin Airport. Even if we were to take into account the new language the Department has insisted we use, around accelerating sustain…

The truth is that food is just the latest necessity to see substantial price hikes. That is not an accident. Farm input costs have been increasing dramatically for several months, indeed, for the past year, and the Government has failed to act adequately. It was warned that this would happen if it did not act. Costs of fuel, one very important input, have been rising. There are international factors at play, but the Government actually forced higher prices. When it increased the carbon tax it increased the cost of …

I want to ask the Minister about the expected timeframe in respect of his proposed legislation to establish an unfair trading practices enforcement authority; when he considers each stage will be progressed through the Dáil; and when he expects the final legislation to be concluded.

I say with assurance that the Oireachtas committee on agriculture will, as I know from our discussions, be keen to scrutinise this Bill in an efficient way. Yet, it is very important that we do it in a robust way. The Minister will know that I was part of the discussions at a European level in relation to the unfair trading practices regulation. I was extremely disappointed with the concluding document. I felt that it was minimalist and that it allowed member states to take a minimalist approach. At the time of tra…

I am sure that the Minister will agree the last thing we need is another quango. We need an organisation that has real teeth. In the first instance, therefore, we have to ensure that unfair trading practices are outlined, identified and outlawed. That means that the current list of outlawed practices needs to be widely expanded, in my view. Second, we need to see that the enforcement authority has power to pursue breaches of that. There is legislation before the Dáil at the moment on Committee Stage to give new pow…

Organic farming is one area where the interests of Irish agriculture and our climate action targets can collide, yet we have set a very low target in this State, which has been highlighted by the European Commission. What is the Minister's proposal to increase participation in organic farming within Irish agriculture?

The Minister mentioned the 7.5% target was the EU average about three years ago. It has already gone way beyond that. For what year is that target? When does the Minister expect to achieve it and what is the Government's target for 2030? The EU has set a target of 25% for then. The Minister mentioned marketing opportunities and the need to ensure that, when farmers move to organic products, they get a premium for those and they have a market into which to sell. Has the Minister engaged with other Departments, in pa…

By when?

Regarding procurement, we need to go beyond just engaging with Departments. Consider the hundreds of millions of euro the State spends on food for hospitals, schools and buildings such as this one, for example. When using public money to purchase food, it would send a strong signal and be a supportive measure for the sector if a portion of that budget were ring-fenced for Irish-produced organic food. The Minister referred to marketing. Bord Bia will set out what it has done to market Irish-produced organic food, bu…