Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I do not propose to get into an argument with the Minister about skimmed milk powder. The point I was making, which I think the Minister ignored, was that the European Commission reneged on a written commitment on price supports. While it did remove the volume of powder that was in intervention, for 18 months skimmed milk powder traded well below the intervention price agreed.

The reality is that beef farmers are in crisis and we face serious challenges in the markets for our cheddar cheese. We need to know what price supports will be in place. Currently at cattle sales throughout the country store cattle are coming out in large numbers. The buyers of those cattle need to know what supports will be put in place. As I stated in my previous supplementary, existing intervention supports for beef are inadequate. We need to know what will be put place. We need flesh on the bones in terms of what level of price supports will be put in place, which for cheddar cheese and intervention beef are essential.

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