Michelle Mulherin (Fine Gael)
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Many questions have been asked and issues debated. I thank the farming organisations for their presentations and contributions to the debate which for me, aside from being agriculture and food related, concerns one of the biggest challenges facing the fabric of rural Ireland. The face of rural Ireland will change if there is no suckler cow farming. That is the reality. While everybody here recognises it, people living in market towns and villages do not. It has taken years to achieve the current levels of quality and traceability in the beef sector, such that it is world class, we can compete in international markets and continue to win new markets. Great credit is due to the primary producers, Bord Bia and others for how our beef is presented. The reality is that somebody is making money on the back of it, but it is never the primary producer. That is the kernel of the discussion. We need to examine how the money can be redistributed. We do not want to be communist or socialist, but we do have to deal with the reality.

Many of the issues raised today and at previous meetings of the committee attended by representatives of the organisations represented have been around for the past 20 years and there have been many suggestions and ideas on how to address them. We have won a lot of new markets and live exports have increased. The size of the national herd has also increased. Last February there were headlines in the media about meat processors being unable to meet their obligations to the Chinese under the contracts they had signed. The reality is that even if they meet the targets set for exports, it will not mean one extra cent in the pockets of farmers. Transparency in pricing was discussed. Would greater transparency result in the primary producer receiving more money? I do not think it would.

The lack of competition and cartels are issues that arise time and again. On whether there is the political will, when officials from the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission appeared before the committee, I asked them what they were going to do to address the situation where all around the country on a Monday morning farmers were offered similar prices for their animals. The response was that the commission needed evidence that it could examine forensically. Mr. Healy has suggested the commission undertake an examination to assess whether there was a lack of competition. There is a lack of competition in the banking sector, in respect of which there is no suggestion of wrongdoing. All of the suggestions do not mean that we will get to the bottom of the problem. I am not suggesting everything is right in the banking sector; rather, I am making the point that in an open economy we have to observe market rules, although I take issue with the corporate veil and excessive protection provided in that regard.

In comparison with the dairy sector, those involved in the beef sector are demoralised and will remain so for all of the reasons mentioned. How can producers continue? When there is a crisis, there is no resilience. The only solution is making more payments such as a payment of €200 for a suckler cow, as well as additional farm payments, with references to the need to go back to the Government or the European Union, while others continue to make money off the backs of those involved in the sector.