John Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate and I compliment Deputy Ó Cuív on tabling the motion. Beef farmers, of whom there are many in County Wexford, feel the Minister has lost the plot and has caved into the factories and allowed them to run roughshod over them in respect of beef prices. If the current scenario continues, many of them will go out of business. They will be seeking social welfare payments because they will be unable to continue in farming. I spoke to one of the most progressive farmers in Wexford earlier and he said that payments are down approximately €400 per head or €1.10 per kilo in comparison to last year. He was paid €4.85 per kilo last year but he is in receipt of only €3.70 per kilo this year. He predicts the suckler herd will be halved over the next two years. Prices are reducing and he referred to increased payments and other bills, including the property tax, water charges, universal social charge and health insurance.

The beef crisis is jeopardising the livelihoods of 100,000 farmers. A cocktail of retailers, processors and Government inaction is undermining prices and destroying the Food Harvest 2020 strategy targets. Under the strategy, the suckler herd is to double, yet the farming community predicts it will be halved over the next two years. I read last week that many farmers in County Clare are getting out of suckler rearing and that must be a serious concern to the Minister in the context of the viability of the beef industry.

The meat factories are changing regulations willy-nilly and introducing new concepts regarding how they define quality but this is being done at the expense of the farmer. Retailers are achieving a higher margin than ever, again at the expense of the farmer. The Minister has not taken action to deal with this. There are a large number of beef farmers in my county. We also have meat factories, which employ many people, that depend on these farmers to supply them. Many jobs have been lost in my area and in every part of the country and we do not want to lose the jobs in the meat plants.

Changes in the Internal Market through beef specification restrictions and in the external market through trade barriers with the UK via labelling have combined to drive down prices. While I accept prices have reduced in Europe, prices in Ireland have reduced more. Surely this anomaly needs to be corrected in order that farmers are paid a decent price for their product. The Minister, as previous speakers said, seems to have washed his hands of the issue. Instead of giving decisive leadership, he has convened two summits on the issue but farmers are tired of summits. These are talking shops with no action and no price increases for farmers. He will find it difficult to get the IFA and other farming organisations to attend more summits because, having attended a number of them, payments have not increased to enable farmers to provide a decent standard of living for their families.

We do not want any more summits, but action from the Minister. The Government must endorse the Dowling report, establish an independent beef regulator and open Northern Ireland to live cattle exports. The Minister, Deputy Coveney's attempt to side-step the issue while he awaits promotion within the Cabinet is an insult to farmers. I was surprised that the Minister, whose sincerity I have always respected, told farmers he may not be the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine next week or next month. Obviously, he is in line to move to a different Cabinet portfolio. Meanwhile, he should not abandon the farmers but ensure that while he is there he makes every effort to ensure they receive an adequate payment for the product they produce.

For far too long the retailers and supermarkets have been ripping off the farming community. I do not blame this Government alone; different Ministers have failed to act on this issue. We have heard may promises of action against the supermarkets which seem to drive down the prices paid to farmers every year. A number of supermarkets are selling products such as carrots and potatoes way below the cost of production. How is that happening? They are forcing down prices and playing havoc with the livelihoods of the farming community. Coming from Tipperary, which has a large number of beef farmers, the Minister of State, Deputy Tom Hayes, is well aware of the situation. I hope he will take a direct interest in doing something in a sincere way that will ensure the farming community will have a decent and adequate standard of living.

The Dowling report seems to be good. It arose from an initial round-table discussion in April. It emphasised a number of areas that need to be addressed, including improved transparency and timely communication on price and market specification, particularly between suppliers and processors, which is not happening. The report also recommended a formalised mechanism for ensuring that research, breeding and education remain consistent with evolving market realities. It noted the potential for producer organisations recognised under the EU’s Common Market organisation rules to play a role in building scale for farmers in the supply chain and building more professional relationships with the processing sector. There seems to be a "them and us" situation between the farmer who is not receiving an adequate price, the beef factories in the middle, and the supermarket and retailers which are creaming off large profits. These three areas should come together. The Dowling report also flagged the possibility of more formalised contract arrangements between factories and their suppliers.

In my county, factories will no longer take a load of cattle from a farmer. A few years ago one could put 25 or 30 cattle into a lorry and the factory would take them all. Now, they might take between three and seven cattle, and might postpone delivery of them until another day or week. It is important that the Minister of State find out why that is happening. While it is to the benefit of the factory and retailer, it is not to the benefit of the farmer.

The Government must establish a fully independent beef regulator to oversee the long-term sustainability of the industry and ensure transparency. The concentration of a small number of processors exposes the industry to the threat of cartels, as Deputy Kirk said, which a regulator would help to prevent. A regulator would help promote communication and medium to long-term planning between the facets of the industry rather than the short-termism that is destroying the beef industry. I am sure the Minister of State, Deputy Hayes, will take the message to the Minister that the situation is dire. When I hear very good beef producers in Wexford talking about going out of business, not having a decent standard of living for their families and going to claim social welfare payments, it is time for all of us to wake up and do something about the situation to ensure the beef industry will survive into the future.

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