Mr. Edmund Graham:

A couple of members mentioned live shipment. Live shipment is of the utmost importance. Once the weekly kill goes above 30,000 or 32,000 there are too many cattle in the system so we have to get them out of the country, and the only way is through live shipment. There are big markets abroad but getting the live cattle to those markets is not an easy job. Export certificates are not ideal. The Department should revise them more often and simplify them a little because exporters are having difficulties with them.

We need more exports. The factories do not appear to want a big supply of bulls, but all the exporters seem to want bull beef. They seem to have switched away from steer beef which traditionally would have gone to Egypt or Libya years ago. It is all bull beef now so it is a pity it could not be opened again to use steer beef and older animals rather than younger animals. Many of the animals being exported are quite young and it is a pity we could not get them to two years of age or more.

How are we going to solve the problem of the price of beef? Ultimately, we must get a higher price for our beef. The retailers need to charge the consumer more. It is the only way. I probably have not got the figures right but the average EU consumption of beef per person is approximately 27 kg. If the price of beef rose €1 per kg tomorrow, how much would that cost the average consumer a year? It is €27. There is no reason that the price of beef cannot go up. It will not break people. I will finish with that.