Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The fact the Libyan market is open at all is to be welcomed so one certainly would not want to be rushing one's fences on it. There is the issue of confidence.

I thank the members and witnesses. Part of me says that some people will look at this meeting and be happy we have achieved very little. Deputy Barry put his finger on it. If this does not make economic sense in the future, the beef industry will not continue. Certainly the finishing end of the beef industry will become akin to the pig industry where it is controlled by the processors who will own large feedlots and farmers in the main will supply animals for finishing in these feedlots. If they are not going to go into primary dairy production, many dry stock farmers will look at being a secondary part of the increased dairy output story in Ireland. If we are serious about it, we must find some way of getting everyone to sit down together and give some assurance to people if they go into producing.

Mr. Cotter made the point about the better beef programme which was built around a model approved by consensus of all stakeholders and then things changed suddenly. In the case of the sheep sector the point was made that it is easy to get in and out of the sector because the situation changes very quickly but this is not the case with beef. In many cases the most efficient producers behind the farm gate need to know that they can make a living out of the sector. Most of their income comes from farming - or making losses from it in this case. All stakeholders need to pull together. Teagasc and Bord Bia in particular can do all the work but if they do not know from day to day what way the market changes there are reasonable grounds for people to be suspicious about what is the real situation. We need to plan for the long term rather than just going from one year to the next. We had a difficult year as a result of the horsemeat scandal.

The industry has spent a lot of money in promoting itself. Bord Bia has spent a lot of taxpayers' money promoting Irish beef as being grass-fed and the best in the world. Origin Green really works. Yet, there are various road blocks that will impede the Food Harvest 2020 output targets. Professor Boyle made the point about bull beef being more carbon-efficient but that has no value as yet. We have not put any efficiency value on it yet it is a significant fact which is not being factored into the price.

We were talking earlier about the black-faced mountain lambs. I can guarantee that grade or quality would not matter, whether an animal is too light or too heavy; if it is fit to process it will make a premium because this is about supply and demand. It is as simple as that. In my view for those of us involved, there has to be an escape valve which has been part and parcel of the Irish beef story for as long as I and those older than me can remember, which is live exports, whether we like it or not. Bord Bia might not agree but it seems that it is the safety net for the industry.