Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. Cotter and Mr. Brennan. I served on the board of Bord Bia for six years and saw up close the work it does. Brexit probably presents the greatest challenge Bord Bia has faced in Mr. Cotter's time if not over the life of the board. We saw predictions in the media today that cattle prices for 2017 will be 10% lower than they were in 2016, which was a poor year itself. The UK is our biggest market for beef with roughly half our beef going there. We have seen live exports starting in the last couple of months with a few thousand cattle going to Turkey, but how much of Bord Bia's budget for beef is spent to promote live exports? How much is done to secure new markets for live exports? We saw live export levels for calves drop off very significantly this year and it will be an ongoing problem in 2017 with a far greater number of cattle coming on-stream to be killed. It is going to create huge difficulties. That is why I want to know how much of the budget is being spent to promote live exports and secure new markets.

The Red Tractor scheme has been problematic for us for a number of years. Under this British decision, I assume Red Tractor will get greater prominence in the UK as will protection of its own farmers. How much potential to expand exists in the dairy industry in the UK? It went through a long period of decline over a number of years but in 2013 and 2014 milk output increased before it dropped dramatically in 2015 and 2016. There has been a serious decline in production in the UK. If they circle the wagons in the UK, how much potential is there to increase milk production and how much damage would that do to us? I note that 65% of our cheddar cheese goes to the UK and one will simply not find another market for it. Of the milk produced in the UK, 50% is consumed in the liquid trade for fresh milk. Has there been any analysis of what will happen if the UK introduces a protectionist policy for its own farmers? What potential does it have to grow? Against all predictions, we saw growth two or three years ago and that worries me. If they use the Red Tractor concept for their dairy products, what potential do they have to grow their output?

We are six months on from the UK's vote to leave the EU and we saw immediate casualties in the horticulture industry, especially on the mushroom side. In my own county, two growers went out of business a month to six weeks after the decision. Has that situation stabilised and have contracts been renewed to allow the mushroom industry in particular to continue to compete going forward? Currency has always fluctuated and it is the access to markets and the risk of barriers being put in front of us that is the greatest issue.

We have made a great play of quality assurance over the years and Bord Bia has been a serious promoter of that to give us an edge in the marketplace. In that regard, I note the amount of product that comes down from Northern Ireland into the Republic for processing. They may now be on a completely different standard than we will have as EU farmers. How are we going to marry the product coming from outside the EU for processing here before being sold on into EU member states? That is going to be seriously problematic for processors here in terms of how that quality assurance is going to work with the potential to work with different standards to EU farmers here. It could cause great difficulties.

We are still looking into a crystal ball and we do not know what conditions will come out of this. On the beef side, we have fought for a generation to keep South American imports out of the EU but if the UK invokes Article 50, it will have that decision in its own hands and we will have no control over it. On the dairy side, I do not see a threat from imports with milk on a very level price across the world. My question is whether there is a protectionist policy there and whether there has been any analysis of the potential of the UK to increase production.