Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for missing the first part of the presentation by Bord Bia but I was called away for a vote. It is important that we have Bord Bia here today as it will give us a different outlook on where we are going with the beef industry. The export figures are exceptionally good.

That is an area where we have to talk ourselves up. Is there a strategy on the part of Bord Bia regarding the export trade for live animals? What is its outlook for the trade, particularly weanlings and Friesian bull calves? How does it feed into ensuring we have an appropriate market base for our beef going forward? Will the witnesses comment on the levies on live animal exports, which I believe were reduced from €4.50 to €1.30 last year? How has the reduction worked? Has there been a positive or negative impact? How does the levy drive the market? What focus is there on marketing and on ensuring there is the capability to get calves or weanlings to a proper home?

There have been a lot of changes to the industry, especially in my part of the world where there has been a movement away from beef suckler farming to dairy farming. If this trend continues for a decade, where do the witnesses see the beef industry being at that stage? There will be large numbers of dairy stock and smaller Angus animals coming on stream rather than the traditional suckler animal. Do the witnesses have a fear of the marketability of such a product if there are larger numbers of Friesian culled cows, Angus heifers or bulls? Would it have a knock-on effect on the entire industry? What is the long-term plan to deal with this shift in numbers and the shift in emphasis? We market Irish beef with a lovely picture of the suckler cow, but will we have the suckler cow in ten years? If we do not, how do we market the product?