Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)

The critical issue for returns to Irish beef farmers from live exports is that the live cattle exported to the United Kingdom can be slaughtered there. Over the years this State, through its various agencies, has delivered substantial grant aid to Irish meat processors and is delivering in the region of €50 million in grant aid under the meat investment fund to the main players who are active in the Irish meat processing market and in the UK. It is also giving work permits although there are 400,000 unemployed here. I do not understand the logic of that.

The Ministers for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and Enterprise, Trade and Employment have leverage on this issue. This House was recalled in the late 1980s to bail out the Goodman group when it threatened to go under but it and others, Kepak, and Dawn, are active in the UK and collude to prevent the slaughter of Irish exported live cattle in their plants in England. They are also putting pressure on other small abattoirs to refuse to slaughter cattle. That costs Irish beef producers in the region of €150 a head. Will the Ministers continue to sit on their hands and pay €50 million in grant aid to close down the beef industry here? Beef farmers will not continue to dip into their single farm payment to subsidise beef production. The consequences of that will be job losses in processing and in the food industry downstream. If the Minister supports live exports what will he do about the problem of slaughtering live exported animals in the UK?

See this speech in context