Pat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

To follow the previous remarks about beef prices and the comments of Deputy Heydon and Senator O'Neill, there has been a very welcome increase in the past number of years. However, beef production is at a crossroads at present. Perhaps I am being pessimistic, but a bubble has been created. The costs now are quite prohibitive. If a farmer goes to the sales tomorrow morning to buy replacements, he or she will have to pay a substantial amount of money to replace what he or she might have sold. There are also the input costs afterwards which, as has been mentioned, are prohibitive. This is a disincentive towards achieving the hoped for 40% increase in production under Food Harvest 2020. I might be pessimistic in that regard. The price increase is welcome but it is coming from a low base. It is a fact, however, that the cost of production is coming from a higher base now than previously discussed. As mentioned earlier in respect of dairying, the cost of feeding this winter will be enormous compared with previous years. Any kind of feed is more than €300 per tonne, which is very serious. I believe beef production will be reduced rather than increased because of this situation. What are the witnesses' opinions on that?