Michelle Mulherin (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I refer to the issue of the unsustainable prices being paid to beef farmers and how that impacts on the work of Bord Bia, particularly in the context of the Food Wise 2025 targets. In recent weeks, the price that farmers are getting from the factories is down 30 cent per kilo. Farmers were getting €4.05 last year but are only getting €3.75 now and I believe the price has fallen by a further 5 cent in the past week. Despite the assertion that there are no cartels and that there is no evidence of same, prices in all of the factories throughout the country are similar. Clearly this is unsustainable. Teagasc stated that it costs €800 per year to keep a suckler cow but farmers are only being paid €700 for a weanling from the factories. There is a glut of cattle at the moment. Last week, a record 40,000 animals were killed in the factories. How long can this go on if farmers are losing money? They will go to the wall. I know this is primarily an issue for the meat factories but Bord Bia and the Minister travel abroad, create markets successfully and the factories benefit from that. What will be done to bring pressure to bear on the factories? Is Bord Bia participating in the beef forum? What is the status of that forum? Are factories being challenged by Bord Bia? If we do not have beef and suckler farmers, there will be no beef to be sold abroad and I am concerned about this.

Another issue is the size of the national herd, which is also having an impact on farmers. The herd size is constantly being challenged, especially in the context of the climate change debate. Farmers are struggling and I would like much more done to be for them. If more is not done, we will not have a beef industry in the future or, at the very least, we will have a diminished industry. They will just fall away because, as we have said here so many times, it is not attractive for young farmers when they have so many other options. Why would they go into an enterprise where they will lose money? That is consistently happening and it is not getting any better. What is Bord Bia doing about this issue? What pressure is it bringing to bear? The factories need to be called to account. Those who ask questions should not just be pointed in the direction of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission. Bord Bia is helping the factories and there should be a quid pro quo.