Mr. Michael Dowling:

I thank the Chairman for the welcome he has given to my colleagues and me. I will ask Ms Dunne to outline where the Department and Ireland are with regard to the Chinese market.

The Deputy asked about negotiations around the fifth quarter. Committee members will know that we commissioned reports from Grant Thornton on three different topics. One of those was to outline the position around competition law in Ireland. The second report related to the market requirements for beef. The third report related to the price points in the supply chain. Included in the reports we got from Grant Thornton was an attempt to calculate the average price that farmers got for cattle over a two-year period and the price at other points of the chain. It was not possible to get representative data in respect of the price outside Ireland because of the difficulty in getting data from operators outside this country. In respect of Ireland, it was possible for Grant Thornton to state the price farmers received and the price factories received, on average, for the product that was exported. Included in that calculation was a figure for the value of the fifth quarter. Grant Thornton has, effectively, come back with an overall figure for the value of beef at the processing stage and its value at the farming stage. One can be compared to the other. Those figures included all parts of the animal, including the fifth quarter.

I will ask Ms Dunne to talk to us about the Chinese market.