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

-----or from wherever one names? For example, the EU is putting €50 million into the compensation fund, which is matched by €50 million from the Exchequer. We are the only member state that has access to it. In fairness, that is part of the track record of the Commissioner, Mr. Hogan. In terms of my track record and that of the Government, we restored €50 million in cuts to the areas of natural constraint scheme. We put €20 million into beef environmental efficiency. We reviewed and extended the disadvantaged areas. We focused payments on where there is most disadvantage. In terms of the commitment of the Government to any specific sector, any available resources we had went specifically here. In addition, one of the great achievements of the Commissioner is the unfair trading practices directive, which will be transposed into Irish law.

That, combined with the initiative the Department is funding in respect of producer organisations, gives the farmers opportunities. None of these elements is a panacea on its own. Together, however, they give farmers the opportunity, when they are the sellers of their produce, to have more than the strength of one on the day of sales. Reference has been made to meat factories etc. In the same way, farmers can use those unfair trading practices regulations to bring greater transparency to the chain and see who gets what from it. They can then use that to leverage additional opportunities for the primary producers. There is also the possibility of using the initiative of producer organisations, which the Department is funding, to enable farmers to be greater than the power of one when they are negotiating trade agreements.

I do not see opportunities just in the climate and environmental areas. I also see other opportunities. For example, reference has been made to 99,000 tonnes carcass weight equivalent. The only segmentation in that area is the differentiation between fresh and frozen meat. We have to explore the opportunity to be more specific in that context. To me, a carcass is the prime cut of meat as well as every other cut that goes with it. We have to ensure that it is not just a differentiation between whether it is a prime cut which is fresh or frozen but that it is the full carcass in all of its manifestation. That is very important. Deputy Cahill made a point about Commissioner Hogan being one of our own. I have made this point before but I remind the Deputy that Commissioner Malmström is one of his own.

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