Mr. Cormac Healy:

By and large, if we have access to an international market, it is negotiated between the competent authorities of the two countries, that is, government to government or veterinary authority to veterinary authority. We want a certificate that is open because as we have outlined previously, with a range of international markets outside the European Union, sometimes different conditions can be set and ultimately it is almost a matter of killing different animals to try to match every market. It is certainly not an offer to international markets that we can do this, that or under 30 months, but that is the international standard. It has not just been set for Ireland but for other countries too. That is the standard being set by competent authorities in other countries. A further challenge is climate change and the efficiency of our production. Nobody is claiming that the older the animal, the more efficient it is. The criteria, therefore, go against that argument. There are production systems, not only run by Teagasc or as demonstration farms, with commercial farmers that produce and finish steers at far less than 30 months, but it is a challenge to the climate change discussion if it is argued that animals should be killed later in life.

Deputy McConalogue asked about exports outside of the European Union.

Of our overall beef figures that market is in the region of 5% at this point. That has been growing. It ebbs and flows a bit. It has been down in 2018 compared with 2017 because of an absence of activity in the market in the Philippines and due to product not being as competitive as the previous year in getting in there. Overall third country markets account for around 5%.

The view was expressed that extra stock or product was coming through and why did we not do something on it. I would say that the industry has done something. It is not just this year. Slaughterings this year are up 30,000 head for the year to date. Over the previous two years slaughterings were up 10% by 160,000 head. The industry processed all of those and found homes for them, but we are not immune to the reality of what was going on in markets. That is a part contributor to the price now, which for Ireland is hovering just below the 100% of the EU average. We have taken a severe hit in our position to return our price because of additional production, especially in the second half of last year due to the drought situation across Europe. The European Commission's Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development has clearly set out the view that the substantial increase in product on the European market has had a negative effect. The European Commission said that last year there was an additional 200,000 tonnes of product on the EU market by virtue of increased production, lower exports out of the European Union and increased imports into the European Union. The combination of these three factors has led to additional product on the market, which has impacted and - as Mr. Carroll has said - this led into the period of further uncertainty we went through over the last months in the context of Brexit.

On the issue of dairy and beef sucklers - this might touch on some of the points raised by Senator Lombard on the future of the sectors - there is ongoing work around output from the dairy sector and the need for an improvement in the beef element coming from the dairy sector. This needs to continue with regard to best available bulls, that decisions made by dairy farmers are not completely based on ease of calving and short gestation, and that some credence, effort and account is taken of the need for an animal that is suitable for the market.

For the longer term we had set out an ambition of 20% growth for the industry, which is somewhere around 80,000 tonnes, as mentioned by Deputy Kenny. This was on the basis there was going to be additional product coming from the dairy market, but it was also with the view or the hope to maintain - as close as possible - the suckler herd. It is the industry's view that it wants to continue to see the suckler herd as a major part of the beef sector. Equally, we must work on the programmes that are there and the use of the dairy-beef index to improve output from the dairy side of the sector.

On the longer term view, tell me what is going to happen on Brexit and I could tell the committee a little bit more. We are all challenged by that. We hope for, and would like to see, an orderly exit with Brexit that would keep Ireland as a major supplier of the UK market. There is no question about that. We want to see the UK market as part of our future, about ten years out when we look at it. Ireland is the UK's nearest neighbour. It is a deficit market and a high price market. We want to see that continue, along with all of the work that has gone into supplying and developing the UK market.

We recognise that demand growth and consumption growth for beef and for protein is also in other parts of the world such as Asia. We are trying to do everything possible to get more access to those markets.