Michael McNamara (Clare, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Minister mentioned GLAS plus for people in hen harrier areas. Will people in designated areas be subject to the same maximum number of hectares on which they can claim as those who are not in designated areas? The Minister also said he had investigated putting it over €7,000 but had not received permission to do so. Could he clarify from whom, or from which institution?

I congratulate the Minister on his recent successes and all the work he and his Department are doing to open up further markets to Irish beef. It was unfortunate that in the week the Chinese market was announced, farmers were receiving lowered quotes from beef factories. I would not be entirely optimistic, but I hope the Minister is right when he says it will be a better year. I also welcome the extra €1 million the Minister has put into beef marketing and the €144 million funding for Teagasc and Bord Bia.

The quality assurance scheme is a central plank in our beef marketing. This excellent initiative is funded largely at a cost to the Exchequer. Farmers make sacrifices to meet the criteria required, and it is good that they do so, but beef processors can sell their product into external markets more easily because of this. In return for that, the beef processors offer farmers €4 a head for cattle out of spec. Cattle in spec have their own bonus scheme because it suits those farmers involved to flush out cattle at times of the year they otherwise might not come out. The sum of €4 a head for quality assured cattle is almost an insult by the beef sector standards. What does the Minister intend to do about this?