Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As the Deputy is aware, there is a commercial preference at UK retail level for simple origin labelling bearing the name of a single country of origin only. It must be recognised that this commercial purchasing strategy has facilitated the sale in major UK retail outlets of large quantities of beef from cattle born, reared and slaughtered in Ireland. However, it adversely affects the market for beef from cattle of mixed origin, such as those traditionally exported to Northern Ireland for fattening and slaughter.

I have been pro-active in supporting this traditional trade and have met on a number of occasions with my counterpart in Northern Ireland, Minister Michelle O'Neill, MLA. We have also written jointly to the three UK retailers which currently stock Irish beef - Tesco, Asda and Sainsburys - asking them to consider a new mixed label for animals born, reared or slaughtered in both jurisdictions on the island. Minister O'Neill has also approved a voluntary beef label in Northern Ireland for cattle born in the Republic of Ireland, raised in the Republic and, or, Northern Ireland, and slaughtered in Northern Ireland. This label would facilitate the sale of beef from animals born in the South and slaughtered in the North if retailers were willing to stock the product carrying this label. At this stage, the voluntary label has been approved by the authorities in Northern Ireland but, of course, the question of using such a label is now a commercial matter between processors and retailers in Northern Ireland and elsewhere in the UK.

I will continue to pursue this and other matters with the major retailers. To this end, I invited a representative of Tesco to the last beef roundtable meeting and a very useful exchange of views took place with all of the stakeholders in the sector. I also recently met with Minister O'Neill and the Northern Ireland Retail Consortium, NIRC, in Dublin to explore the labelling issue further. In summary, the NIRC advised me that its members have considered the mixed label issue in some detail and have concluded that for the moment they are not prepared to change their labelling policies. At that meeting both Minister O'Neill and I received a clear message from the retail sector that labelling polices will remain unchanged for the present for a number of reasons including consumer preference and logistical difficulties within the supply chain. However, it was agreed to keep the matter under review and I will continue to engage with the NIRC in this regard.

In terms of live exports to Northern Ireland this year, I confirm for the Deputy that total exports to Northern Ireland from the South are higher in 2014 than in 2013. This is important. Exports in the beef sector are at over 80% of last year's total and have performed very strongly in recent weeks, particularly for finished cattle. In addition, live exports of dairy cattle from the Republic to Northern Ireland in 2014 are higher than in 2013. That said, this is still an issue and we will continue to work on it. Ultimately, I cannot force retailers to stock mixed label of origin beef, as they see it, next to simple, single country of origin label beef while charging the same price if that is not what consumers want. The market is starting to resolve this issue because of supply contraction in terms of the number of cattle being slaughtered.

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