Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Like Deputy McConalogue I thank Ms Paula Barry Walsh for the presentation to the committee and I welcome the other members of the delegation here today.

Live exports were never of such critical importance to us. As the number of black and white calves increase this safety valve is absolutely essential.The numbers went up in 2018, which is testament to the satisfactory standards Ireland has in place. If our calves were not arriving in a healthy state to the Continent, we would very soon lose our customers there. The standards that have been put in place by the Department are there and working well. We have to ensure they are. The live exporters, obviously, had to reform their job and they want to do as economically as possible but it is essential that the calves arrive in a healthy condition. That is happening, otherwise the figures would not be on the increase. In the past we had problems with our weanlings going to the Continent, but we ironed that out. I was with Bord Bia at the time. There were definitely health issues with weanlings and it was going to destroy Ireland's whole reputation. Action was taken on having weanlings weaned before export.

We have had a lot of markets opened for our older stock and a lot of work has been put into that. As has been said previously, however, there is no significant amount of stock moving into those markets. We have to re-examine that with regard to the conditions in place. Are conditions too stringent for the live exports to operate? I refer to such aspects as the quarantine before animals move. While Ireland has to maintain its standards we also have to look at the economic viability of moving stock. Putting conditions on the market that are too onerous is self-defeating in its purpose. Ireland is disadvantaged in that we are the country that has to travel by sea to get to mainland Europe. Do we know how many cattle travel from country to country in Europe, such as to the feedlots in Spain for example? I have been on feedlots in Spain in the past and they had animals on the feedlots from four or five European countries. How far are other animals travelling by road to those feedlots? From our perspective it would be interesting to see how many cattle are moving from different countries on the Continent. We definitely feel that the whole focus is on our sea transport journeys. Is there the same emphasis on other exporters around the Continent who travel by land?

This spring there will be a record number of black and white calves on the ground. While calving season is getting into full swing in all spring-calving herds it is absolutely essential that we consider the consequences of a potential period of stormy weather with a resulting backlog in the system and in the lairage capacity on the Continent. Could it have a serious or detrimental effect on the number of calves we could export in any given week in the spring? I believe that the market for these calves would be completely dependent on live exports this spring and our beef market in two years time is going to be dependent on it also. The Irish capacity is one issue and an allowance should definitely be made for bad weather and a significant build-up of stock on this side waiting to get across. I am worried that the capacity figures highlighted in the presentation would not be enough to cater for the huge volume of calves we need to get onto the Continent.

I hear from live exporters that they have markets that could cater for an increase of 50% in calf numbers to travel to the Continent this spring. Would the Department be happy that the facilities in place would be able to cater for that increase in numbers, that we could do it very seamlessly and that the lairage facilities would be able to cater for such an increase in numbers? I believe we can stand over our record. We would not be holding on to our customers on the Continent if we were not doing the job correctly or if calves were not arriving in a healthy condition.

The Department feels that it would be useful for the exporters to have one representative body. It is an interesting comment from the Department. They are competing against each other for markets and it would be hard to get them under the one umbrella. I can, however, see reasons it would be needed for the operational aspects of moving livestock. The exporters should use common sense and have the one umbrella body that would come and voice the concerns and issues facing the sector, rather than coming in to the Department in an ad hocmanner. That would be useful.

I commend the Department on the regulations we have in place but it is essential to look at the regulations for the older cattle to see if we are being overly strenuous. Some of our customers might demand certain conditions, but if stock does not move it becomes self-defeating. We should go back to examine why no business is happening with some countries where we have negotiated to trade. In any country with which we have an agreement on the movement of live exports, if nothing is happening on the movement of stock after a six-month or 12-month period then we should go back to re-examine the agreement to see what is wrong and whether an economic reason is causing the non-movement of stock.