Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On the latter, the truth is that the ball is in the Turkish court at this stage. The Turkish veterinary delegation were here inspecting a number of our plants, processes and so on. A substantial number of plants have expressed an interest in this trade. We must wait until such time as the members of the Turkish delegation come back to us with their proposals and we then finalise the administrative arrangements. We must await the response of the delegation who visited here. There is no delay on the Irish side, and I assure the Deputy that once we get feedback from the Turkish delegation, we will move as quickly as is humanly possible to deal with the matter. I acknowledge that live exports are down in some markets this year but that is a factor I reference in my reply in the context of there being many variables. What the State can do is open markets, and the State has opened a substantial number of new markets, but it is up to the industry to respond in terms of availing of those opportunities contingent on the prices that are available for cattle in the factories here, currency fluctuations and a range of variables that impact on whether it is profitable for those exporters to avail of those markets.

With regard to the point the Deputy made about people purchasing cattle at this stage for Turkish specifications that we have not yet had sight of, that would appear to be premature, but we await feedback from the Turkish and will not be found wanting in terms of the speed of our response.

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