Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman for giving me the opportunity to address the committee, of which I am not a member.

I have spoken to a number of farmers who are owed money, some of the mart managers, some of the people persent and Mr. Paulo Garavelli. I have also raised the issue in the House, with the bank and the Italian authorities. There is no doubt this is a complex issue. It is not simple and will not be simple to solve. Everyone who has contributed agrees on this point. The biggest challenge is trying to maximise the money we can get from the Italian trade debtors. That must be the objective, to try to ensure unsecured debtors, in particular farmers and marts, get as much money back as possible.

We have an indication that approximately 30 marts are owed money. Have the three farming organisations been contacted by many individual farmers who are in financial difficulty? In Roscommon there has been a history of IOUs which have had a devastating impact on individual families. Will the delegates give us some idea of what we are speaking about? How can we influence the flow of moneys due back into Ireland from Italy? It is not relevant now with regard to this company, but how do we provide for the retention of title across EU member states? Deputy McNamara raised a similar question. I have raised this issue with the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine and it is washing its hands of it, stating it is not its problem. I have also been in contact with the Italian authorities through the Italian embassy. They are also washing their hands of the issue, stating it is the Irish consulate in Italy which must deal with it. No one seems to be prepared to deal with the issue of the retention of credit across EU borders.

We all accept that the live export trade is vital to the industry in this country. In fairness, it must be acknowledged TLT opened up a new market in Italy which had not been easily accessible to Irish exporters. Has the receiver given an explanation as to why he went down the receivership rather than the examinership route? The elephant in the room is the fact we can ship cattle to Benghazi, but we cannot ship them to Birmingham. If we were owed these debts in Manchester, it would be far easier to collect them than having to go to Milan to collect them, which is a big part of the problem. On this bigger issue, it is not, as we know, as simple as an animal welfare issue across the Irish Sea. If it was, we could get around it. There are complex issues in the United Kingdom with regard to having our animals slaughtered, processed and placed on supermarket shelves there. Will the delegates elaborate on the steps we need to take, as members of the committee, the Oireachtas and the Government to ensure this market is opened up. There is a premium market. Why in God's name must we send cattle to north Africa when we should be able to send them across the Irish Sea where there is a deficit with regard to the volume of beef produced and a premium market available to us?