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

My thought process is that it is manageable. We managed it in the dairy industry without damaging the sector and can also manage it in the beef sector. The Department has extraordinary levels of data for stocking densities on all farms. By the creative management of individual farmers’ stocking requirements, it is possible to deal with the issue in a way that will not inflict any long-term structural damage to supply in the beef industry. The first we became aware of the reduction issue was when the Commission published its terms and conditions. As I said, our proposal which is on the Department’s website is clear in quantifying the scale of the challenge and contains no reference whatsoever to supply reduction.

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