Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This is a very important issue. We know where we want to go and we want to protect what we have, namely, the family farm producing fresh milk every day of the year to be placed on shop shelves of Ireland. I do not think anyone on this committee would disagree with that aim. What is stopping this happening? The price is being pushed down and farmers are leaving the milk sector as a result. One of the challenges we face is that there are four players - the consumer is the fourth, although we have not spoken very much about him or her. The consumer wants cheaper everything and anything. However, if he or she thought that it was cheaper not to have fresh milk available 365 days of the year for his or her cornflakes but to use UHT milk instead, he or she would decide to pay a little more to be guaranteed fresh milk. There is, therefore, a need to inform and educate consumers.

The second issue is what will happens if Northern suppliers suddenly find the British market is more lucrative than the market in the Republic and leave a gap in supply. How likely is this to happen which would result in UHT milk being on the shelves instead of fresh milk? That is the issue that will put the consumer on the side of the farmer when he or she realises they are both on the same side because the farmer has to survive. How unstable is the combined British and Northern Ireland milk market in continuing to provide 26% of our fresh milk? If that supply was to suddenly disappear, would milk suppliers here be able to make up the difference?