Mr. James Healy:

We will do our best to cover as many of the questions as possible without repeating what others have said. Regarding the price differential, through the European young farmers association, the Conseil Européen des Jeunes Agriculteurs, CEJA, we have the opportunity to put members on the Meat Market Observatory. It is very difficult to get transparency and information on European prices for beef and compare like with like. This lack of information and transparency seems to be a cultural issue in the meat industry, not just here but across Europe. That creates significant problems. I do not know if that would be fixed if we had all the information or whether that lack of information points towards a cartel. I do not know the legal definition of a cartel, but I would see it as an unfair trading practice. It certainly reduces the options and makes life difficult for farmers, who have no certainty. When a cow calves, a farmer does not know what that animal will be worth in two years.

There is also a significant lack of transparency among retailers. Several Deputies mentioned the rules restricting the price and the options for the farmers. We are told by the processors that this is the result of retailers making demands on behalf of the consumer. Mr. Punch mentioned what they tell us about prices on behalf of the consumer. Questions need to be asked about some of the rules that are in place.

While some started with some very logical reasons, the reasons for the restrictions no longer stand. By the same token, taking age as an example, keeping animals for only 30 months is not a practice we want to encourage among farmers. From an environmental point of view, the longer an animal is on the farm, the greater the emissions. It is a question of more efficient feeding of beef animals and rearing animals that have a higher feed conversion rate. These include the continental animals, the higher-quality beef animals. The problem arises where there is a cull cow, for example. The farmer is punished at that point. There is no need for the restriction anymore.

There is another aspect to the price differential. We are now told we are in a global market and the price the global market will pay. One of the Deputies raised the issue of British beef having a premium in the British market. Every beefburger bought in this country uses Irish beef, but all the beefburgers in McDonald's in the United Kingdom use British and Irish beef. The British might not regard us as the same in light of Brexit, but they definitely regard our quality Irish meat product as equal to their own. We should be receiving the same benefit in their market. We should be receiving the benefit of having a high-quality product in the British market.

Consider some of the issues raised by Deputy Penrose. With regard to feedlots and corporations receiving subsidies, we have seen many farmers setting up companies and using this as a tool-----