Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The bottom line is that it suits the Opposition to say the Minister is not doing a good job. One should consider the context of what he has achieved, including the price of milk and the fact that dairy products are doing really well right across Europe and elsewhere on the world stage. Beef prices have decreased. I saw at first hand only last week that cattle in the marts around my county are not as dear as they were this time last year. However, prices are higher than they were three years ago. This seems to be a matter of confidence in the Minister. When prices are down in a sector, I have no doubt but that people will seize the opportunity to blame him. That is the traditional approach but people need to be more constructive. They should work out how to open new markets, including the American market, and how to get our really good, top-class grass-fed beef onto the world stage. The Chinese were here some days ago. They were greatly impressed with our environment and the way we produce beef. We need to market that. What we say here is no good if we do not push what we have on the world stage. In global terms, the amount of beef we produce is not huge and would not flood the market but we have a specialised product. I assure everybody that it is a question of building up the markets, and that is what we need to achieve.

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