Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is historic that this is the second day in a row that beef farmers' plight has been top of the agenda in the Dáil. I had a number of calls this morning from farmers who are part of these new producer groups that have been established to try to negotiate with factories. They tell me that factories are refusing to negotiate with them on price. If we are to get our industry back on any kind of level playing field, processors need to wake up and realise that they must respect farmers and commit to what they agree to. If it is the case that these newly-formed producer groups are not being recognised by the processors, we have a serious problem. As Deputy McConalogue stated, the lack of live exports is a key issue and one that I lay squarely at the doors of the Minister and Bord Bia. Live exports have always been the safety valve to put competition into the trade. With the abolition of quotas, we knew that there would be a lot of extra stock. We had the farce last spring of there not being enough space in Cherbourg for calves leaving this country. Again, only two entities can be held responsible for that, namely, the Department and Bord Bia. It will soon be October but I have not yet seen evidence of that shambles being rectified in time for next spring. That must be done immediately. We have no older cattle leaving the country alive. We have had numerous announcements of market after market being opened for Irish stock but, unfortunately, no cattle are leaving.

There is also a great deal of talk about the grid being reformed. I did not agree with the grid when it was introduced and I still do not agree with it. It needs to be reformed, and the O= grade needs to be used to set the base price rather than having a grid that allows processors to exploit farmers and pay the lowest possible price. As Deputy McConalogue indicated, we need a crisis fund. We need a fund that will be fair to farmers rather than something similar to the one introduced prior to the local elections. That fund was discriminatory and excluded some finishers from claiming compensation. We should also recognise that producers of stores and weanlings are also losing significant money. The crisis fund must address losses borne by all beef farmers and there must be a fair fund in place. Unfortunately, since 12 May, cattle prices have dropped by 30 cent to 40 cent per kilogram, so losses are probably even greater now than they were when this fund was introduced before the local elections.

One of the greatest sources of regret on foot of last week's talks is the fact that the price differential for cattle over 30 months of age remains the same. Attempts were made to camouflage this by increasing the bonus for cattle under 30 months of age. The reality, however, is that when cattle change from being 29 months and 29 days old to 30 months and a day old there is a price differential of 12 cent per kilogram. Farmers just do not accept that there is any basis for this differential.

It is now a generation since we had BSE in this country. Using that weapon to pay a lower price to farmers is just not acceptable. The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission has clearly failed farmers. Whether it is in rendering or processing, farmers feel that a monopoly exists. We saw that when Slaney Meats was purchased by Larry Goodman, it was investigated but was said to be okay. This further eroded competition in the trade. Farmers need to get a viable price. If that does not happen very quickly, our industry will disappear.

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