Mr. Tim Cullinan:

There is quite a bit there. The Deputy is right. More recently, in Athlone and Roscommon, and when our chairman was on Kildare Street in Dublin, we highlighted how serious the situation is at the moment. If we roll back on this, the Minister decided he was going to have a roadshow with the proposals on the CAP in 2021 and 2022. We were clear from the outset that we needed a proper support package in the CAP, both for the livestock sector and the sheep sector. Our position was steadfast from the start; we needed €30 a ewe to ensure the viability of that sector. This is an ongoing campaign. We reheated the campaign when the pressure came onto the sector in more recent times. Our campaign was clear from the start. To back that up, we have seen the figures from Teagasc clearly demonstrating that last year, including the sheep welfare payment, the margin per ewe in sheep production was €7, which we all know is totally unsustainable. The other issue was store lambs. We all know the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on impact costs, particularly for store lamb farmers. The cost of feed or meal increased massively. That sector was losing serious money when finishing lambs last winter. That was why we escalated the campaign, but the campaign had been continuously ongoing.

As we said, approximately 20% of lamb exports is lamb that was imported. My understanding from speaking to people involved in the sector, both farmers and industry, is that they need the extra lambs coming in to produce efficiencies. The way that lamb is labelled going out is questionable.

My colleague Mr. Comiskey, the chairman of the IFA sheep committee, has been dealing more in that area. I will hand over to Mr. Comiskey to deal with that part of it.