Michelle Mulherin (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not believe that anything Fianna Fáil Deputies argued was helpful. If one could even be clear about what their message was, one could at least have the impression that it would lead to a cut of up to 30% in the funding farmers would receive under the Common Agricultural Policy.

As Deputy Creed said, the problem is with the beef sector. Many steps have been taken to try to address the problem. Farmers have invested a considerable amount of money in livestock and are out of pocket.

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The problem might be less severe than it was, but it is still there. Farmers continue to grapple with the challenge and are under financial pressure because of it. These problems have not arisen because the Government did not invest in the beef sector. On the contrary, we have had significant investment in the beef genomics scheme, technology transfer and so on. The payment to beef farmers has doubled to €80 per animal from the €40 that was payable under the last Government. We have had public consultations on legislating for the recognition of producer organisations and round table discussions on the future development of the beef industry. In addition, the Minister has embarked on a series of trade missions in an effort to open up new markets to Irish farmers.

The main issue for Irish beef farmers at this time is the scarcity of beef in the North, with farmers there afraid to buy beef because they do not know how the United Kingdom market will be. I hope the Minister will have a discussion with Tesco, Aldi and Lidl on the labelling issue. I have more to say but, unfortunately, the Acting Chairman has indicated that I am out of time.

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