Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I want to ask the witnesses about how they see things going regarding the growth of the dairy industry and the impact this will have on beef. Beef farmers are particularly concerned about where this will all end. I do commend Teagasc on some of the measures, such as the knowledge transfer scheme and so on. They are hugely important, but unless we sort out where the €2.4 billion connected to the beef industry is going, we will not be able to sort out this problem and will be limited in how we approach it.

Has Teagasc done any models of vertical integration, as have been done with pigs and poultry and other sectors? Why can that not be done with beef? Can the witnesses comment on the beef industry and farming, particularly farming on the marginalised land where I come from, in terms of looking at farming in the west of Ireland as a public good? What supports need to be put in place to really look at farming in the more marginalised areas as a public good in respect of the contribution it makes to rural Ireland and to rural communities? I also wish to ask what the witnesses' relationship is with the beef factories, what role Teagasc can play in the pricing with beef factories and what it is doing about exports, trying to engage with the Chinese market and the replacement of the shortage of pork in that area. I will leave it at that for the moment.