Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is really a repetition of what the previous three speakers have said. I was reading this before, and like others I have to say it is a very productive document in terms of what the commission is offering and suggesting. I appreciate that, and it goes to great lengths to explain the seriousness of cartels within the law if they are found to be in practice and if they do exist.

In terms of the Twenty20 Beef Club, the CCPC has received a small number of complaints. Is it possible to say how many complaints it has got at this stage? I have been going to farm meetings, Beef Plan Movement meetings, IFA meetings, and farmers come up to me individually who are convinced that this cartel exists. Either Deputy Cahill or Senator Paul Daly referred to the Friday evening and Monday morning price. When one checks it, it does, for people like us, look like there is some fixing going on. There is no question about it, as other speakers have said. The farming community is utterly convinced of this price fixing, and this is where we are fixed. The commission does not think it is not serious enough to be investigated. Speaking on behalf of the people we meet in our constituency offices and counties, when they show us prices and comparisons, we just have to get this feeling that there is something going on there. How many complaints have been received, and what can we do for those people? The document goes into a lot of explanation, but what can we do for those people who feel they are being blackguarded by these factories?