Mr. Eoin Donnelly:

I will first address the queries on targets and sustainability. We need to get to a situation where there is a reasonable apportioning of the value of the product through the supply chain, from the producer to the processor to the retailer and ultimately to the consumer, and we need to have some bandwidth there to reward very productive farmers who are at the top of their game so they make a variance against that standard and do well, while those who are not performing have an adverse variance against the standard. The same goes for the processing plants. If they perform well, they do well, and if they do not, they do not do well. Until we get to that point, the balance of the retail share across the supply chain needs to be targeted. If it is not targeted, the primary producer will continue to get the thin end of the wedge because the price pressure will continue to go down. Meat Industry Ireland has already alluded to the fact today that beef is being used as a loss leader for the retailers. Who ultimately will pay for this? The retailer will pass that cost back to the producer. The producer, with a dominant position, will pass it back to the primary producer. It is inevitable. That is our opinion on sustainability and the targets to 2025.

On the issue of feedlots, there is an interesting number here. For designated health status for TB to allow farms to trade, the TB level for Ireland is 3.7%. If a designation to support a TB status herd is for 3.7% of the cattle in the country, how can we have 18% of cattle coming from those feedlots? It is certainly my position that the system is being abused. If TB is at 3.7% in the State and 18% of cattle coming from those designated feedlots, is it the case that those feedlots are just unfortunate that they happen to have TB at that magnitude?