Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their presentations.

Mr. Cormac Healy said one cannot ignore the marketplace. He presented figures for the increase in beef prices to the consumer as opposed to cattle prices and said there was a deviation there. Would he accept that the increase in cattle prices is from a very low base? Mr. Healy says this disparity has been an issue since 2006. Does he feel the farmgate price needs to drop further, considering it has been slipping back in recent times, or would he acknowledge the considerable gap between what the consumer pays and what the producer gets?

I also thank Mr. Shane Dempsey for an interesting presentation. He speaks about the importance of genuine collaboration with the industry on the obesity issue, and I accept his point about taxation. Does he think there is not genuine collaboration at present? What does he consider needs to be done in this area?