Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Offaly, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for attending to help us with our consideration of the circumstances of the beef sector. What was the motivating factor in establishing the Twenty20 Beef Club between Glanbia and Kepak? I am curious as to how the name was arrived at or what its significance is. How do the witnesses respond to the independent merchants who have expressed their concerns about this? It was alluded to earlier. There are a number of them around the country. Two are in my area - Liffey Mills and J. Grennan and Sons. They are concerned about the impact that this might have on their bottom line, their value in the rural communities that they operate in and the kind of relationships that they have. They have been clear about their concerns that this may be anti-competitive in that it ties in farmers. Having said that, I appreciate that nobody is forcing anybody to enter into this. At the same time, these are the concerns that we are hearing and that need to be addressed. At a time the price of beef is probably the lowest it has ever been, the timing of this is good to address the temptation that people have to think that this will solve all of their problems.

On the companies involved and the potential advantages that Glanbia Ireland has with regard to the fact that 60% of the shares are owned by Glanbia Co-op, it has been suggested that some shareholders might in some way be disenfranchised by this. Will the witnesses refer to that?