Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for the reply. It is welcome that there was an increase in live exports of 25% in 2013. The Minister mentioned a shipment of 2,500 bulls to Libya, which is also to be welcomed. However, there are a number of problems in the beef sector. One is that, despite the Minister's best efforts, not enough bulls are being exported. There are not enough live exports in total. Furthermore, there is a problem with processors' cartels operating. They are able to manipulate the market. An overlapping question concerns the fact that if there is a cartel operating that is manipulating and controlling prices in the market, there is a lack of live exports that would otherwise help to put pressure on the cartels to give market value to the farmer and producer. All of these points must be taken into consideration and none should be considered in isolation. The Minister mentioned China, Japan, the United States and other markets opening up. These are not live export markets.

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