I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this matter. It might not be one that affects constituencies up and down the country, but it is one that was brought to my attention in the recent past by a number of nursery and garden centre owners, namely, the need for the establishment of a national horticultural strategy to drive the potential of the sector. I welcome the presence of the Minister of State, Deputy Shane McEntee, and thank him for and compliment him on the work he has done so far. He might take on board the need for engagement with all stakeholders in the horticulture sector, including garden centre and nursery owners, those responsible for training graduates and SOLAS which is in the throes of revamping the old community employment and training initiatives. In the recent past, having regard to the level of construction that took place, both in Ireland and our nearest neighbour, the sector experienced large growth in numbers employed in it.

The sector is being promoted by Bord Bia. It struck me and those working in the sector that, first and foremost, the remit of Bord Bia should be the promotion of Irish food, in respect of which it is doing a good job. There is a danger, however, that the sector will be subsumed into it and, perhaps, have a less important place than it would enjoy if there was a board or a subsidiary of it with its own label and unique identity. There is a difference between the approaches taken in Britain and Ireland to garnering the potential of the sector. One need only look at the approach of the BBC in promoting both the gardening and the horticulture sectors as a means to encourage people to engage in these activities.

I would like the Minister to engage with the local authorities and State agencies which in many cases have a hefty budget for the procurement of horticultural services and plants and shrubs from nurseries. There is a concern that these services are not being put out to tender by local authorities and State agencies and that small nurseries and garden centres are not being given an opportunity to offer their material to these outlets and promote their stock. The nursery owners and garden centre operators whom I met recently are also concerned about the standards of training and certification for college graduates. They would like to see a comparative study being carried out of the standards and courses on offer in Ireland versus those on offer in our nearest neighbour, the United Kingdom. There is obviously a needs for a closer relationship between the sector and the colleges to ensure, first, that the right calibre of person is steered in the direction of the sector and, second, that the standard reached reflects the needs of the sector. The nursery owners and garden centre operators to whom I spoke are not concerned that there is a shortage of graduates available but that their skills base does not reflect the needs of the modern sector.

The Deputy's time is up.

I welcome the opportunity to raise this issue which is not one that affects every constituency, but it is one, as I am sure the Minister of State will agree, which has considerable potential.

I thank the Deputy most sincerely for raising this significant issue. It concerns a sector which has considerable potential for growth, but much must happen and it must start with the producers themselves.

On a number of occasions, I have got them together to try to become one unit but they have failed to do that and have continued to work individually.

I know a lot of money and help has been invested through Bord Bia. The one point that really annoys me about the whole horticultural industry is the manner in which it allows itself to be treated by the supermarkets, whether it be in regard to plants or food, where they use Irish product as a loss leader. I have tried to address this on several occasions, but with no great success. We have met all the companies and, some six or eight months ago, I had all of the different people involved in the horticulture industry, in particular the nurseries, around the table to try to draw up a plan. I left it up to them to come back to me with a plan on how they were going to operate as one, as they do in England, but they have not done that.

As the Deputy rightly said, while the industry is going through a bad time at present, there is great potential, not only for the home market. I do not know how many lorry loads of plants and shrubs come into supermarkets in Ireland daily. For the first time, however, through a grant aid system we put in place, a nursery is this year being given the opportunity to supply one of our supermarkets, and I hope many more will follow. The producers have much to do themselves. They went through a good time during the Celtic tiger period and did not care about anybody. Now, they have left themselves with an awful lot of large borrowings. They have to come together. I am glad the Deputy has raised the issue.

Production of fruit and vegetables is a significant entity within the overall agricultural industry, making an important economic contribution in terms of supplying the domestic market, employment and foreign trade. The horticulture and potato sectors contributed approximately €400 million to farm output in 2011 and this includes non-food horticultural crops such as plants and nursery stock. It is estimated that Ireland is 24% self-sufficient in fruit and 85% self-sufficient in vegetables, including potatoes, although these estimates relate only to produce that can be grown domestically.

The horticulture sector has performed well over the past decade and has grown to be a significant entity within the overall agricultural industry. The area and proportion of production under protection from the weather has increased significantly. Improvements in the quality and presentation of Irish produce over the past decade have also been significant. Quality of output, hygiene and food safety concerns have become critical issues for the sector. The industry is labour intensive, employing approximately 18,500 across the food and non-food areas, and employment is broadly based across the country.

The sector continues to have considerable potential for further development but is experiencing strong competitive pressures, particularly from the highly concentrated retail market and competitively priced imports. The multiples have enormous bargaining power in that they prefer to be supplied from one or two sources and they exert unrelenting pressure on producers to drive down prices. This pressure, coupled with ever-increasing input costs, particularly the costs of energy and labour, has resulted in many producers leaving the sector. Scale has become a significant prerequisite for success.

Following the publication of the Harvest 2020 report in June 2010, the then Minister of State with responsibility for horticulture at the then Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food established the horticulture action group in December 2010 to oversee the implementation of the relevant recommendations relating to horticulture in the report. The membership of the group consisted of eight people who represented the various sectors of the horticulture industry. They comprised a nursery stock producer, a horticulture wholesaler and protected crop producer, a field vegetable producer, a mushroom producer, a potato producer and representatives of Teagasc, An Bord Bia and the then Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

The group met on a number of occasions and submitted a detailed 25-page report to myself at the end of June 2011. The group also reported back to the high level implementation group for the overall management and implementation of the Harvest 2020 recommendations. In addition, Teagasc, in consultation with the other State agencies and relevant stakeholders, has established a number of working groups to examine in detail individual horticultural sectors and, to date, two reports on the cut foliage and apple sectors have been prepared.

Since receiving the horticultural action group report, I, my officials and the relevant State agencies have been involved in progressing the implementation of as many of the recommendations as are feasible in the current economic climate. I have met the main supermarkets to impress on them the need to support Irish producers, although to no avail in that they continue to abuse the Irish farmer and supplier daily and are putting them out of business. They do not seem to be listening to anybody. I have also secured funding of €3.25 million for the horticultural grant scheme for this year which has been allocated to projects across all areas of horticultural activity.

I welcome the Minister of State's response, although it highlights the fact there is an issue with regard to labelling. In the supermarkets, unfortunately, whether the product is a chicken or a griselinia, consumers do not know that it is Irish because the labelling of Irish farm products, whether from a greenhouse or a field, is totally inadequate.

The fact Bord Bia is the responsible agency does not give this issue the significance the industry deserves. The fact there are some 18,500 employees means there are a lot of mouths to feed. The producers deserve, if not a quango, a separate entity that will drive forward the labelling, marketing and research that is needed.

The recommendations of the report commissioned by the Minister of State will be interesting. I take on board his point in regard to the horticulture industry. I have made the point to the producers that they need to formalise themselves into a national association and engage with the Minister of State in a constructive way. There is also massive export potential, when one considers the number of garden centres and of people engaged in this area in the UK in particular. One thing Ireland has is plenty of rain, as we know, which means we have an excellent climate for growing the type of plants, flowers, fruits and vegetables that will get into the UK market, and which are traceable, safe and useable. However, unless we are prepared to take on board the recommendations of the report commissioned by the Minister of State, put a proper labelling system and marketing system in place and bring all the stakeholders together under the one roof, it will not work.

I take the Minister of State's point in regard to the disparate organisations pulling and dragging in separate directions. That is in the past, however, and we need to move on. I will go back to the people who contacted me and ask them to formalise themselves into a national association. When that is done, perhaps the Department and its officials can sit down with them again. This is an industry that clearly has huge potential given it already sustains 18,500 employees and God only knows how many families.

I appreciate the Deputy's comments. If he is free on Thursday, I invite him to Citywest where there will be an open day on the horticulture industry, in particular the plants sector. Doors are opening in China and in England with regard to exports, but we have to come together with regard to the logistics of transport and standing up to the multiples. If we do not do that, we are wasting our time. Please God, in the not too distant future, I will be announcing a plan that will take on the multiples, whether they like it or not.