Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I agree with the Minster that in an ideal world, for job maximisation, we would slaughter all the cattle here. However, as the Minister knows, the market in Ireland is dominated by a small number of major players and the price they offer here compared to the UK - sometimes by the same companies - can be considerably different. Can he explain how it is that cattle cannot be transported by boat from Dublin or Dún Laoghaire to Holyhead when there is apparently no difficulty in transporting them from Larne to Stranraer or Cairnryan? My belief is that a very small number going over there and availing of the higher prices in the UK would ensure that the same prices were available to farmers here. Could the Minister facilitate and ensure that this is opened up in the spirit of free trade within the European Union?

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