Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Like the rest of my colleagues, I still have a concern about the beef industry and where it is at. The price farmers have been getting for a number of years has not been viable. These protests have not come about overnight. I refer to the desperation among farm families that their way of life is disappearing from under them. The single farm payment, in real terms, has been eroded over time. For a number of years, it covered up many of the deficiencies in the price being returned to the primary producer.

Since I was elected to the Dáil in February 2016, the Government has not listened to my party on the plight of beef farming in this country. We have had numerous Private Members' motions and every month when there are questions to the Minister, we have raised the problems in the beef sector.

We all knew, when quotas were discontinued in April 2015, that there would be an increase in livestock numbers in this country but we have failed to have the safety valve of live exports adequately utilised. We saw in the spring where we had the disaster of not having enough lairage space in Cherbourg for Friesian calves and, as we speak tonight, there are no cattle over 12 months of age leaving this country. We have had numerous markets announced for live exports but, unfortunately, no cattle are moving. Live exports were always the safety valve that kept pressure on the meat processors to pay a viable price. That was always what kept competition in the trade.

Unfortunately, farmers have lost trust and confidence in parts of the industry. Farmers have lost confidence in Bord Bia. The question being asked is whether all the beef that is leaving this country is of Irish origin. Is the beef stamped as processed in this country being produced by Irish farmers?

On the negotiations, while the Minister states there have been increases in the bonus, we can only judge that when we see the base price that the factories announce. Unfortunately, the differential in the price between cattle under and over 30 months still remains. There is the four-movement rule. While there has been some movement on the residency, none of these issues has been resolved to the satisfaction of farmers.

Even allowing for this, I would urge the farmers on the picket line to allow the kill to recommence, but with a strict deadline of 1 January where the aspirations in this agreement can be assessed to see if they are being fulfilled. We need to get the autumn kill under way. Farmers need to sell cattle but they must be given assurances that what is in this agreement will not be allowed gather dust and that the aspirations in this agreement will be examined carefully and delivered on.

The competition authority has failed farmers. I can give numerous examples of how this has happened. We need an independent authority to be brought in to examine fairness in this industry. Whether it is for rendering or for price, we need the competition authority to be brought to task. Before I hand over to other members of my party, I will refer to the Joint Committee of the Agriculture, Food and the Marine which had the competition authority in a couple of months ago to examine a scheme between Kepak and Glanbia. Under cross-examination, the head of the competition authority told us that the scheme was uncompetitive but because it was only for a small segment of the marketplace, she would not do anything about it. I said to her that day that it is okay for a processor to sin a little but not a lot. If that was farmers, the competition authority would take action.

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