Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am looking for clarity on the response I received to my query on the future of the beef industry. I have read the report from the MII and I still do not see its vision for the future of the beef industry. I also do not see the vision regarding where the suckler cow ties in with the vast numbers that have declined in the last years. Perhaps the witnesses could give clarity on where they see it going with the vast numbers of dairy cows coming in and suckler cows decreasing. I am trying to get a handle on the numbers of suckler cows the MII believes it will have in a few years' time. This is not Brexit oriented: it is about market trend and what we may have seen in the past. The comprehensive report does not give me that future, a vision or a template of where the MII sees the industry going. We are now trying to review 2025. For that to happen the meat industry and Meat Industry Ireland need to come forward with their views on where that future is going to be. I am not happy with the documents it has supplied to me because they have not given its views on the vision going forward or where the industry is going. My question was where do the witnesses think the industry is going.