Mr. Cormac Healy:

I am not aware of one. In terms of specifications and who makes them, a specification is something a customer, whether a retailer, a food service operator or a wholesaler, will have. It will deal with matters such as the type of animals it wants it coming from, what age, what weight and what kind of cut size. In some cases, it may be cut size. It will also deal with many other things in terms of supply arrangements, whether it is weekly or twice weekly, the type of mix of cuts of it is willing to take and what they do during promotions. They are predominantly set out by the meat buyers and the meat buying team of that customer. They vary to some extent among customers. That is my understanding of where they are established. It is by the meat buyer and the meat buying team of the customer. They outline these specifications. The Deputy must understand it may not only be an Irish supplier delivering product to the customer. Depending on the customer, it could be a supplier from Italy, Spain, Poland, France or elsewhere. The process commences with the customer.

In terms of the process of listing, it is feet on the street ultimately. As the Deputy will be aware, Bord Bia is the marketing agency. It has a number of offices throughout Europe with responsibility for various markets. They would constantly survey the market, establish where the key purchasers of beef are, etc. and put Irish companies in contact with them. Equally, Irish companies will have offices on the ground. It is something that is built up over a long number of years. Just because one knows there is a significant buyer there does not mean one will get the business with the buyer. One makes one's pitch and tries to present what one can supply, etc. If things go well, one is listed and delivers a particular type of product over a particular period of time. That is how it builds up over time. It is about knowledge of the market.

The Deputy spoke about the regulation of price. I do not believe there is a requirement for regulation. There is no regulation at other points along the chain. I go back to the point of delivery which the industry has. When one asks a question like that, it would suggest there is not delivery on price or that there is a real problem. We are not belittling or under-stating the issues there at the moment. They are market-driven but, overall, there has been price delivery. What industry has achieved in sales has been returned into a producer price and a cattle price on the ground.

I can only comment on some of Deputy Ó Cuív's other remarks because, ultimately, we are not here speaking on behalf of Northern Irish industry. There are still significant live exports to Northern Ireland, according to figures I have seen. The Deputy rightly pointed out that there is a reluctance on the part of British or Irish owned operations in England to take Irish cattle.

I acknowledge he said he will check on the labelling regulations. However, they are in place and my clear understanding of them is that an animal, for example, born and reared in Ireland and slaughtered in Northern Ireland is not labelled "Origin: Ireland". If it is born, reared and slaughtered in the Republic, we can label it "Origin: Ireland". If it is slaughtered in Northern Ireland, it has to be labelled "Born and reared in Ireland. Slaughtered in the UK". That is my understanding of the labelling.