Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

I concur with the Deputy on a number of issues. France was the only state to support the argument I made at the last Council meeting that the removal of the pre-financing of export refunds is not appropriate at this time for two reasons. First, following the Court of Auditors investigation in 2003, we streamlined our procedures. Second, from a political and tactical point of view, it means the removal of export refunds in parallel with the loss of other support mechanisms as part of World Trade Organisation negotiations. I expressed my views forthrightly. It is unfortunate, however, that few apart from France support me on this.

I have written to the Commissioner to explain the issues we have with male beef and the fact that the pre-financing of export refunds is often exclusive to the export of carcases. We have listened to the views of the industry and are aware of the concerns it holds. I agree it is not necessary to introduce pre-financing at present. A further difficulty arises in that the matter is a Commission rather than a Council competence. However, we have presented our views to the Commissioner. I wrote to her to ask that our concerns about beef exports to third countries be considered in the context of the review she will conduct within the next six months of a new mechanism. We will strive to have these concerns addressed through beef management and will follow through politically.

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