Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is true to say that farmers are price takers because they have no choice. There is no competition in the beef sector in this country. There are three major players, one of which is dominant. Over the past 20 years many small abattoirs have been put out of business as a result of increasing regulation. They have been taken out of the buying market for beef, which leaves only three factories remaining.

If a farm producer organisation pulls together 1,000 farmers and negotiates a deal which necessitates the transport of cattle, what use is it to them? The fundamental problem is that we do not have competition in the factory sector and farmers are forced to be price takers. The proposed solution is just papering over the cracks. It will probably streamline the process for the factories, remove the threat of protest and allow them to continue as normal.

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