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

The Minister spoke about producer organisations being one of the answers to this issue, and perhaps they are. Additional supports are provided for producer organisations. However, in the past, most emphasis was placed on reducing the cost to the farmer of producing the product. That emphasis needs to switch towards improving the price for the farmer. I strongly believe we need to get that right. As I have said umpteen times, and I know the Minister agrees with me, we produce an excellent quality product. Irish beef is grass-fed, free-roaming, traceable from farm to fork, and comes from family farms, all of the elements the European consumer wants, yet we consistently find that the price returned to the Irish farmer is little or no better than that returned to the average European farmer. That is not right and should not be the case. Something needs to be done to ensure the Irish farmer gets a premium price for what is recognised worldwide as a premium product. In that context the beef forum has failed Irish farmers in securing an enhanced price. That is where we are at on this issue. While I understand marketing is under way and we are talking about getting into new markets in Kuwait and other countries around the world, farmers are not seeing an increased value for their product when they go to the mart in Leitrim or in Cavan to sell their weanlings or when they fatten their animals and bring them to marts in the other end of the country. We need to see something happening.

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