Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 9 April 2019

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Future of the Beef Sector in the Context of Food Wise 2025: Discussion (Resumed)

Photo of Rose Conway WalshRose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the delegates for their presentations. I want to concentrate on figuring out once and for all whether a cartel is in operation. Do the delegates believe there is? Above all, do we have sufficient data to establish if it is? We have been talking about this issue for 20 years and had the Bacon report in 2000. Dr. Peter Bacon said the data did not support the contention that there was a cartel in operation. However, there are 35 beef producing facilities and three major players, yet prices are stagnant. I am not saying there is or there is not a cartel, but we need an examination of the data. I ask each of the delegates to say if he or she believes there is a cartel in operation and if there are sufficient data to support that contention? How can a proper investigation be carried out to put the matter to bed once and for all? We have to look at where the money is going. We are looking at a beef sector that is worth €2.4 billion. That is a lot of money and it is not going to the farmers I see around me at home. Where is it going? We can talk about genomics, increasing value and such like, but they are all medium-term concerns. In a crisis we need an immediate response. We need to have this done quickly as somebody is making money and it is not the farmer. I have two sons and certainly would not advise them to go into farming on marginal land in County Mayo where the only option is beef production. They would need to have their farms certified before they would be able to do so. That is an awful thing to say because there are really good young farmers who have gone into the business in the past few years. As legislators, with the farming organisations, we need to support them in a meaningful way. We have received loads of paperwork and suggestions. We need to prioritise the things that need to be done immediately.

It all comes down to the price obtained in the market. There was a big fanfare in the opening of the US market, but has it had any impact on beef prices? Has the opening of the Chinese market had any impact, or is it just a way to get people to look in that direction? Farmers are under the impression that it is really good.

Their expectations are being raised all the time, yet they are not getting the price they deserve for the quality product they are producing. It is a quality product, regardless of the genomics programme or anything else, and it should be very competitive in the global marketplace.

Simplification was mentioned, but things become more and more complicated and expensive all of the time for farmers. We are not winning in that respect either.

Will the IFA clarify what it meant by taxation policy? I am not sure what is meant by it or why it needs to be looked at.

Who made up the four movement rule? It is a ridiculous idea. From where did it come and on what was it based? The fact that a person can say that because beef cows were moved four times they are worth less money is bizarre. Who made it up? Who allowed the four movement rule to continue?

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