Mr. Tim Cullinan:

It is valid to ask how we ended up outside the doors of the retailers. Our farmers are all busy and they do not want to be outside the doors of retailers, nor do I. I wrote to all the retailers before Christmas because the problem was escalating and the reason we target retailers is that they are our route to the market. Some 50% of pigmeat is sold in the Irish market, which is an excellent market to have. It is the best market we have. The vast majority of poultry and horticultural products are sold in the Irish market as well. We engaged with a number of retailers but we protested outside the premises of the retailers that did not engage with us. As primary producers it is important that we are able to engage with all actors in the chain. We are relying on the retailers for a route to the market and that makes it very important that all actors will sit around the table with us to discuss where we are coming from.

The other reason we were there is because of the massive impact that the extraordinary price increases we are dealing with has, particularly with the cost of feed and energy. That has put us in a serious loss-making situation. The retailers we engaged with acknowledged this and they pointed out that they have a practice with a range of produce whereby they have contracts from six months to one year in duration. They gave us a commitment, which we need to see followed through on, that they would go back to their processors and suppliers because of the extraordinary circumstances and look at the contracts again. That is why we were there.

If one looks at poultry in particular-----