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

On the control issue, we will insist on veterinary equivalence. That means beef produced in Canada will have to be produced under the same conditions we have here. There will be limitations on hormone use and other practices regarding welfare and so forth and there will have to be an inspection scheme that reassures European consumers that this is the case.

This will apply to other parts of the world as well.

Clearly, the Irish beef industry can compete. The week before last, I returned from the Gulf states where we are starting to sell more beef again. There was a time when Ireland supplied Saudi Arabia with between 30% and 40% of its entire beef consumption. Ireland has proven its capacity to compete in the beef industry both outside and inside the EU because we provide a competitively priced, very high-quality premium product. In fact, Irish beef has improved down the years and we now have a better product than we have ever had. We can compete, but we need to monitor the situation closely.

There is access for Canadian beef already, but it is limited to approximately 4,000 tonnes of hormone-free beef. If the Canadians want to access the European market in a more significant way, they will need to build a hormone-free beef industry in Canada, which many people claim may never happen, given that it is a different type of beef production.

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