asked the Minister for Industry, Trade, Commerce and Tourism the number of meetings that have been held by the task force of Ministers of State set up to make recommendations for the development of the Irish food industry; the date of each meeting; and the details of any recommendations made.

The Minister of State Co-Ordinating Group on the Food Industry have had nine meetings so far. These were held on 11 January 1984; 15 February 1984; 22 February 1984; 29 February 1984; 7 March 1984; 28 March 1984; 17 April 1984; 16 May 1984 and 23 May 1984.

At their first meeting, the group decided to invite submissions from Government Departments, State agencies and private sector organisations concerned with the development of the food industry. Submissions were made by the majority of these but some organisations have only recently responded to the group's invitation. In the meantime, the group have been examining, in depth, some of the submissions received and recommendations will be made in due course.

I compliment the Minister on his task force, which obviously have been a good deal more active than the Cabinet group concerned and from whom we get no information. Is it the Minister's view that the first stumbling block in this area is the widespread statutory authority for the development of the food industry, authority that is spread over many State agencies and Government Departments? Consequently, would the Minister consider recommending to the Government that the whole area be brought under one ministerial heading?

I do not accept the implication in the first part of the Deputy's question. There have been numerous meetings of the Cabinet task force on employment. They have met continuously and have made some important decisions.