Pat O'Neill (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman and the gentlemen for the presentation. As most of the questions have been asked there is no point in repeating them. The key point is that in 15 years there has been a 26% increase in imports whether from Northern Ireland or the UK in liquid milk. Is that suppressing the price? There is no point in closing the stable door when the horse has bolted. The problem does not lie with the retailers alone but the processors. The witnesses' tables are very interesting, especially the table on page 15 of the documentation. Table 2.1 which, as Deputy Pat Deering pointed out, shows that the retail price has risen on average to 111 cent per litre where what the producers receives has decreased from 44% to 32%.

It would also be interesting if the witnesses were to show what the retailers' margin has been in those 15 years. The reason the witnesses are before the committee and the reason the retailers appeared before the committee was to try to assess certain parts of the food industry. We have asked them all about their margins but we will not get answers in respect of their margins in this country. We have also asked about using fresh produce, whether milk, beef, lamb or vegetables, as a loss leader to try to attract people into the store. That is an issue on which I would like to hear the views of the witnesses. They have all used beer or alcohol or processed products at some stage but to use a fresh product as a loss leader is unfair as it pushes the margins on the primary producer down. I think it all went wrong in 2007 and 2008. It is clear from table 2.1 that from 2006 to 2007 the price of liquid milk increased by approximately 5 cent per litre but suddenly the retailer's margin increased by 20 cent and that has continued. Since 2007 the retailers have got a 20 cent increase whereas the producers only got 0.2 cent. It all went wrong in 2007 and 2008, whether it was due to pressure from the processor in making the producer continue with that price or the retailer putting pressure on the processor to maintain the price in order that they would not have to pay more. I would welcome comments on the issue of using fresh produce as a loss leader as we have to prepare a report on these deliberations. As Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív has said, is the 26% increase in imports of liquid milk the reason the price is suppressed? I am a farmer but not in the dairy area and I met the IFA yesterday. It is not sustainable to produce liquid milk here at present? Would the industry be better off to give up liquid milk production, except for summer production and produce it for product? The people would then see where the country would source its liquid milk.