Pat O'Neill (Fine Gael)
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I thank the witnesses for their presentations. This is the second day we have spent on this issue. The beef industry is in crisis at present. We are hearing that from those involved in it. I am a person who produces beef. I produced bull beef up to this year. I decided not to do so this year. I do not what inspired that decision. I castrated all the animals. I will still have a problem when I have to get rid of the steers in 18 months' time or two years' time.

I suppose we need to look at the figures. Mr. Cotter mentioned that the value of Irish beef is 104% of the EU average. I do not think that was a fair figure to produce. The Italian, German and English markets, where prices are significantly in excess of Irish prices, are the premium markets. We are being brought back in with the markets that are producing beef. Teagasc and, in particular, Bord Bia have done a great job over the years to sell Irish beef as the most traceable quality-assured beef in the world. We can nearly go back through every animal's genetics. We sell a product that we hope can be traced forever. I would not produce the figures for the Polish market because its beef prices are lower than ours. The biggest problem here is that we have approximately 1.5 million cattle to kill this year. That equates to approximately 33,000 cattle a week. It is projected that this figure will increase to 1.6 million cattle next year. How are we going to cope with this increased kill? The factories might be able to kill them, but what impact will that have on the price? If people are not getting a price that will keep them in profit, they will not stay in production. Having listened to all of today's presentations, I think it all comes down to the multiples.

We dealt with the multiples during the grocery legislation. They are setting the specifications. One and a half years ago when cattle were going well, there was no specification from factories. There was never a question of a specification from a factory for a bull to be under 24 months. There was never a specification for the weight of the carcass. Let us suppose that arose in the case of sheep and that for a carcass over 20 kg, one was not paid. If this comes in to the beef industry, it will close the beef industry. We hear that if the carcass is over 400 kg, the farmers are being paid a discount. Who decided the specifications for Irish animals being killed in Northern Ireland or exported to Northern Ireland?

This has knock-on effects, especially for smaller marts in the west. Irish animals are being discounted in Northern Ireland if they are going to a factory there. If an animal has four movements, they will not take it. I cannot remember all the specifications because I do not have them before me today, but there are specifications now. They have come from somewhere. Is it a case of the multiples deciding these specifications? I never counted England as a country of people that ate bull beef. Suddenly, there are specifications relating to 16 months. This is not only down to carcass size, as the deputation stated, but to the size of the cut.

We have a crisis. How will we manage next year? We will not unless Bord Bia opens up many more markets and we can get them in at a top price. There is no use opening markets unless we sell at a premium price because people will not stay in production if they are losing money.

Professor Boyle produced figures suggesting a loss of €360. A farmer cannot stay in production for that. There is another interesting figure indicating that live exports to Britain are up by 27% and up in Northern Ireland by 13% in 2014. These are not beef animals. What are these animals?