Mr. Lorcan McCabe:

As Mr. Phelan alluded to, it is just not feasible to export calves by plane. The farmer would get nothing for them or might even be faced with a bill. Calves do not go by the land bridge because it takes too long. It is crucial is that there is capacity on the ferries and we see a problem coming there. As the land bridge is going to be a problem, hundreds more trucks will be heading for the ferries in Ireland, thereby putting the exporters of calves at a disadvantage. They have a good business going, as our general secretary said, for February, March and April but the shippers may not listen to that because other people can have 12-month capacity. While I welcome the trials for exporting calves via airplane, it is just too expensive.

As regards where we see markets in the future, China has to be looked at very closely and Bord Bia is working very hard on that. Even since Covid came in mid-summer, China has been looking at milk, milk products, yoghurts and cheeses in order to build immunity and strength. Bord Bia is working very hard on the whole east, including China, Malaysia and Singapore. Two weeks ago the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, announced the sending away of the application for protected geographical indication, PGI, for grass-fed beef from Ireland. That is a huge step in the right direction. We are the only country in Europe that does that and very few countries in the world have that status. Our general secretary, Mr. Enright, may want to add to that.