Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There were a lot of questions but I will try to answer them. On the Bord Bia issue, Deputy Timmins is right. We could do with many more people in that organisation. Last year we doubled the number of Bord Bia representatives in Asia to two; where there had been one person based in Shanghai there are now two. Bord Bia is very anxious to expand its presence. It does a phenomenal job given the number of people it has, and must be one of the best recruiters of talent because all the Bord Bia people I know are very impressive in the jobs they do. However, they are stretched. I am very much involved in a hands-on way in opening and developing new markets. In a few weeks' time I will be going to the Gulf states - Qatar, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia. There will probably be 50 Irish food companies coming with us, just as happened in China last year, and many will sign contracts while we are there. In this process the Department works very closely with both Bord Bia and Enterprise Ireland. The latter has taken a much more significant role in helping to develop and expand the food industry and in that regard is working hand in hand with Bord Bia. They are doing a very good job together but I would like to have more people. I have made that case and Deputies may see some announcements in that regard in the not too distant future.

I bow to Deputy Wallace's knowledge on cattle breeding. He is right. If one is breeding for bull beef one may well decide to use continental cattle on one's dairy cows but most dairy herd farmers in the country - certainly many of them - are looking for high-quality replacement heifers to grow their herds and prepare for an absence of dairy quotas post 2015. If that is one's priority one will be looking for top-quality dairy breeding, and as a by-product one will get male calves that need an outlet. It depends on what one is looking for. Last week I opened a top-quality AI bull stud just outside Mallow. A commercial dairy or beef farmer now has a fantastic choice in terms of the bulls they can use to improve the quality of their herds from both a dairy and a beef point of view. I would say our breeding programme is as impressive, if not more so, than that of any other country in the world.

Deputy Ó Cuív asked why we are not exporting live cattle to the UK. There is an issue in regard to the carriage of live animals by roll-on roll-off ferries. Many of the companies do not want to do this. There is an ongoing discussion and I would need to check the most recent update in this respect. It is also important to put into context beef prices in Ireland. For the vast majority of this year we were significantly above the average EU price - about 15% more at times, overall somewhere between 5% and 15%. Recent reductions have brought this figure down but we are still above the average price at EU level. Irish beef does not go just to the UK but goes all over Europe and to some 160 countries in total. The UK has a very different beef market because by and large it supplies its own market. Given that, it is not acceptable to have for any prolonged period a significant differential between Irish and British beef prices, and we are looking at that.

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