Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is technically the perfect storm. The price of fertiliser is high, and meal and protein prices are high. Like the rest of us, the witnesses are probably paying north of €400 a tonne now for the ration. It is the perfect storm but then when we meet the consumers, they think our product on the shelf is dear. There is an issue with how the consumer views the lamb we consume and where it is in the pecking order. The analysis of where the industry is based is on medium-sized flocks ranging from roughly 100 down. Has any thought been given to how we put a process in place, when it comes to the power of the factories and their ability to set the price compared with the power of an individual farmer to bargain for that price, to provide that farmers would have stronger bargaining power when dealing with the factories? We need to address how we engage with the processors which have, in many ways, a kind of monopoly, although I do not like to use that word, in the marketplace. From an IFA point of view, what work have we done to make sure farmers can be protected as a group selling products? What does the State need to do to make sure groups come together and are financed so that we can have a better industry?