Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

As the Deputy knows, having come through an extremely difficult period of recession in the past six years, it has, more recently, been an especially good time for farming and agriculture generally in this country. The Deputy is absolutely correct that there is an immediate problem in the beef sector, and he understands the reasons for it, particularly in respect of bull beef. He also understands that far from the allegation that the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine is not attending to the matter, he is, in fact, actively working to address it. The Minister has, for instance, allocated more funding to Bord Bia to see what that agency can do to continue to promote Irish beef. In regard to the situation in the North, the Deputy is aware that the Minister has regular contact with his opposite number, Michelle O'Neill. In fact, I understand a meeting of the North-South Ministerial Council will take place tomorrow week. The Deputy is further aware that the Minister has just returned from a ministerial meeting in Luxembourg where he had discussions arising from this issue.

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