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

For a start, this Government has prioritised the beef industry in each of the past three budgets. Next year alone in terms of the rural development programme, we will be putting about €73 million directly into the beef and suckler beef sectors. We have designed a rural development programme specifically to prioritise the beef sector to ensure it gets the supports it needs.

If one looks at the overall CAP policy in terms of direct payments, one is talking about at least €700 million per year of supports going into this sector. We are trying to look at where there is a dysfunction in the marketplace in the relationship between farmers and factories, which has been a very fractious relationship for many years. In other sectors within the food industry, particularly dairy, there is a very successful co-operative structure in place where farmers are directly involved in ownership structures and decision making around price and there is a much better functioning marketplace in terms of farmers understanding the market and what it can give them at any given time. There is a total lack of and breakdown in trust in the beef sector and it is my job to try to address that. It should have been addressed in the past but it was not addressed. That is why we are putting a lot of store on the producer organisation model which works in other parts of Europe and which will create a much more professional negotiating relationship on behalf of farmers with processors. There will be an equalisation of relationship on many of these discussions because at the moment, out of frustration, farming organisations feel they need to protest. We are trying to change that.

If the Deputy is asking me whether I can directly increase the price of beef, the answer is that no Minister in the EU or the Western world can do that without being taken to court or challenged by competition authorities. The market determines the price of beef primarily. Irish beef is at a European average in terms of prices and we have been above the European average over the past three or four years. Traditionally, up until four or five years ago, Irish beef would have been at about 90% of the European average. Beef prices have moved up. It is recognised that Irish beef is a premium product and we are looking at structural change that can ensure farmers feel they are getting a fair share of what the market has to offer. I will continue to work on that.

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