Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate what the Minister is doing and note that he is in the USA trying to progress new markets for Irish produce. While all of that is excellent, we come back to the point that there does not seem to be transparency. The Irish farmer is not getting a fair price. We say we are going to start to try to aim higher and get to a higher place on the shelf, which is fine. However, the question is whether the farmer will get a higher return. That is the problem. The elephant in the room is the monopoly of many of the big meat processors. It needs to be dealt with. Is the Government prepared to deal with it?

Farmers have many environmental issues and costs. Green low-carbon agri-environment scheme and other payments are in place to support farmers, yet we find they are slow in getting their money. It has been said to me by many in the farming community that if officials in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine had to wait as long for their pay as the farmer has to wait for his, there would be war and that they would be on the streets. We need to deal with these issues comprehensively. While I fully appreciate that Bord Bia and many other organisations are doing their best, at the end of the day, their best does not appear to produce a return for the farmer. That is the issue in hand.

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