Mr. Padraig Brennan:

I will start with Senator Daly's questions. He is correct regarding the high levels of currency exposure. Half our meat, 65% of our prepared consumer foods and more than half of all of our cheddar cheese goes to the UK. Currency pressures have been, and continue to be, a major challenge for the industry. There is a realisation that suppliers into the UK market are facing currency pressure. That is recognised by both the suppliers and their UK customers. There was food price inflation in the UK for the first time in many years over the past year and a half. That resulted in higher prices being paid to retailers and our understanding is that this reflected itself back in some of the contracts that were being signed.

Regarding the potential at the end of March next year for lots of contracts to close, it is our understanding that some customers in the UK are inserting breakout clauses into contracts that they have with Irish suppliers. I do not say that business will be lost but it is recognising the reality that there could be a significant change at the end of March next year. Businesses are allowing for a reopening of contracts after that date. We have seen that phenomenon emerging in the past six months in particular. One can look at that in two ways but at least there is a realisation that there could be a need to review existing contracts.

On stockpiling, the trade data we have seen does not suggest that there are significant levels of stockpiling happening in the UK.

It is shelf life dependent. The Senator referred to the fact that some products are more suitable for stockpiling than others. Our view and information at this stage is that one would not expect a major level of stockpiling in the next while, but it is something we have to keep under review because as he correctly pointed out, it could have a knock-on consequence on the level of trade as we go through 2019.

In the trade deals in new and emerging markets that have been coming through in recent years, the focus of the ministerial-led trade missions is the level of access that we have to these markets. I refer to the detail of the access that we have on specifications such as age, bone-in and boneless meat products. Based on contacts with our colleagues in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, I know there continues to be a focus on getting the broadest access we can get. At least then one has more options within the market in terms of what type of product one can supply to different customers in that market. The deals that are done are, typically, at a commercial level, between a supplier and a customer. In any commercial arrangement like that, it is up to the individual arrangement rather than there being a long-term agreement in place. In the markets where there is an increasing import requirement because of a deficit the volume of food produced locally versus the need for imports, no more than in the UK, the onus is on us as a sector and Bord Bia is a key part of that in making clear why Ireland should be the source of the product rather than elsewhere. We outline the quality, health and natural credentials that make us stand out as a supplier into those markets. Each market will always be competitive in nature. Every market is competitive and, therefore, we have to be as strong as we can be in how we position ourselves in those markets.

As to whether we are on track with the Food Wise 2025 targets, if one extrapolates out to 2025 from where we are currently in terms of the growth in exports of food and drink products in recent years, we are just about on target. To return to the point that was raised by Deputy Cahill and Senator Mulherin about being in sync at primary producer level as well, the challenge is how we position ourselves in these markets and where we get the value from them. We must look at what return we can get from different markets for the different products that we produce. That is the greatest challenge overall as the marketing promotion agency for food and drink in terms of finding opportunities. Some of those take time to secure and to develop a position. Everything we do is about where we can position an Irish food and drink product in a market at a particular time to get the best return. Sometimes one has to get into a market and establish oneself and over time gradually work one's way up in terms of the level of return one can get from the market. That is the emphasis of our role in trying to ensure the maximum return from the marketplace.

Deputy Corcoran Kennedy asked about seafood and why our exports were down in the UK. A couple of factors are at play. There has been a significant change in the market distribution of Irish seafood in recent years. The Asian region, in particular, has emerged strongly for products that traditionally might have gone to the UK or various parts of continental Europe and, therefore, it is more a reflection of other markets elsewhere perhaps giving a better return rather than being due to any fundamental issue in the UK market itself.

The Deputy correctly asked about the Brexit barometer and the template and if we are tracking whether companies are using it. I am involved in a sectoral team and we have regular meetings with our client companies as part of that. In our engagement with them at those meetings, we assess where they are in their preparation for Brexit. We walk them through the template and other supports that we have to make sure they are as prepared as they can be. Through our various workshops and training programmes, Mr. Hamill encourages more companies to take part. I should have referenced earlier that all our training programmes and workshops are oversubscribed at the moment. We will continue to run those programmes and workshops until such time as there is no longer a demand for them. That gives a good indication of how tuned in companies are and the emphasis that is being placed by our client companies on getting ready at this stage.

On market prioritisation, we examined five different categories, namely, meat, dairy, prepared consumer foods, seafood and beverages. A total of 15 different markets have been identified for each. On the meat and dairy side, we deliberately excluded many of the European markets from the top 15, not because they are not a priority for us - they are core markets for us - but they are markets where in most cases we are well established. We focused on new markets. For meat, for example, eight of the 15 are in Asia while in dairy and seafood seven of them are in Asia. There are a number of Middle Eastern countries. For example, the United Arab Emirates is strong in a number of categories. North America - the US and Canada - is also strong, as is Mexico across a number of categories. In the area of prepared consumer foods where the industry has traditionally been strong in the UK, seven of the 15 on the list are continental European market. The markets vary a little depending on the category.

The Deputy also asked about the new staff in Nigeria and North Africa. The person going to Nigeria will cover the west Africa region in general. The primary focus will be dairy, followed by seafood. It is a significant region for seafood exports as well. For North Africa we are looking at dairy, potentially on the livestock side and to a lesser extent on the meat side. They are the areas we are looking at in terms of new staff going into those regions.

On the plan to grow services and which clients they are available to, essentially any company that is engaging with us and working with us to develop their commercial marketing strategy can avail of the plan. Some services will be more appropriate to different clients than others but they are available to any client company.

Senator Mulherin was very hard on us altogether. However, I accept that it is a serious issue. I am from Kilkenny and I live on a beef farm, so I know exactly the challenges she is talking about. We have been in a difficult period for beef prices for some time. There is no doubt when one looks at the profitability figures, which the Senator rightly pointed out Teagasc and others have been releasing and publishing recently, that we have a major viability challenge at farm level. It is a serious challenge for us. At its simplest, what Bord Bia is trying to do on beef is find the best customers in the best markets to buy as much Irish beef as we can. That is reflected in the fact that if one looks at where Irish cattle prices are relative to European cattle prices - while I stand to be corrected - on a year-to-date basis, we are in or around 105% of the European average price for cattle this year. We are below the UK price but that is by far and away the highest price. Almost all UK beef stays within the UK market. Half our beef goes to the UK and half goes outside the UK to other European markets and elsewhere. The challenge has been to get a return from the marketplace because there has been an increase in supply across the continent and that has had a detrimental effect on demand for beef in general, which has put pressure on prices. It highlights the challenge for the industry and points towards looking for new markets more so than ever before, to create competition for our product by having as many markets as can possibly have available to us that are willing to buy different cuts of beef from Ireland to maximise the return that we can get. It is not an easy issue to solve. The onus is on Bord Bia to market and promote Irish beef in different markets, and that will continue to be the case in order that we can establish it and sell it in the various markets.

The fact we go into every market as an import supplier and typically there is a preference for locally produced products puts us at a disadvantage from the get go. We try to find a niche or a part of the market where we feel we can establish ourselves and get the maximum value. We cannot achieve that in every market but it is the ambition we have and what we work towards. For us it comes back to what are the unique credentials of Irish beef, what makes it different and how do we stand out, and then selling these as strongly as we can. My brother and my neighbours would like the price to be much better than it is but that is the focus of what we are trying to do. We are in a European beef market where prices can be volatile and where they have been under pressure for a period of time. We are trying to find the best return we can from the investments we make in promotional activities.