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

The Deputy will know that any Minister in any EU member state has limited scope to influence price one way or the other. The market determines the price for beef. Let us consider the performance in price in the past five years and compare Irish beef prices versus the EU 15 countries or 28 countries. We have seen that in the past five years for the first time we have pushed on past 100% of the average price of the EU 15 and EU 28 countries. In previous periods under previous Ministers, the figures were far lower. In 2009, we were at 90% of the EU average and in 2010, we were at 91% of the EU average, whereas in 2012, 2013 and 2015, we were well above the average. We need to put this into context in terms of how Irish beef is seen. I am keen for it to be seen as a premium product and for it to be higher priced than the average across the European Union.

Obviously, we have an important relationship with the United Kingdom because more than half of our beef exports now go to the UK. I am keen to see the gap closing rather than opening up but there is a series of reasons there is a price gap. The main reason is that British consumers want British beef first. After that, they are happy to take Irish beef, which they see as very good. All of the research shows this. As a result, most of the retailers want to buy British beef first. Then they will buy Irish beef to meet the extra demand that exists. Therefore, there is a higher percentage of British beef going onto the shelves of supermarkets in Britain and that is the highest price segment for beef. The higher the percentage that goes into that higher price segment, the higher the price those involved can pay for British cattle versus Irish cattle. It does not take a genius to figure that out. Given the country of origin labelling rules, this is the reason all British supermarkets want to sell British beef first. Only three of them actually stock Irish beef but they are the big three and that is why we have huge volumes going in there. Exchange rates have added significantly to this in the past 12 months but the main reason is that there is a far higher percentage of British beef going into the higher value markets in Britain, which is the highest value market for beef in the world, than the percentage of Irish beef. We will continue to market and work to get more Irish beef into that higher value market.

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