Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing time with Deputies Cullinane, Ferris, Martin Kenny and Buckley. I acknowledge the commitment of all the farmers across the country who took the difficult decision to go on the picket line over the past two months. It is unfortunate that it has come to this. It is because of those farmers that the issue is now on the agenda. I have spoken to many farmers who were at the factory gates. They did not protest out of choice. They stood on the picket line because they felt they simply had no other option. This was their last opportunity to save their livelihoods. They are taking to the picket line for the simple reason that it is no longer economically viable for Irish beef farmers to produce at a baseline price of €3.45 per kilo. Teagasc is telling us that to be any way viable, as a break even-price they have to be getting €4.17 per kilo. That is basic economic reality. All the signs are that the protests outside the factory gates will continue until the baseline price increases. Everybody wants this solved but that is a fact we have to recognise. Beef farmers are caught in a perfect storm. Not only is their margin squeezed, with some of them going backwards financially into the negative, but they are also facing the effects of Brexit and the looming Mercosur deal. Farmers are going out of business. Beef farmers can no longer support themselves and their families. Some families are facing the prospect of losing property such as their home. They have large debts for on-farm investments that they have made in recent years. They were borrowing money to buy fodder because of the fodder crisis last year, and saw the effects of that going into spring this year.

How has it got to this? This has developed over the past two and a half decades. We have allowed the Irish beef sector to be run in a cartel-like manner by very powerful people with very strong political connections. Why has their power been left unchecked for so long? It is a cartel-like situation where those running it can decide whenever they like to manipulate beef prices for their own selfish reasons. That is being done in a number of ways, including through feedlots, the only purpose of which is to ensure that the price of beef is suitable for the cartel-like owners and processors. That is the situation that Irish beef farmers have been up against on a daily basis. That is why they are so angry.

One of the solutions is to provide greater transparency. During the summer recess, I published the Mandatory Beef Price Transparency Bill 2019 as an attempt to contribute to a solution. We understand that this is not a silver bullet. It does not meet all of the farmers' demands and will not solve everything. I am not naive enough to think that. It goes some way towards ending any suggestion of manipulation in prices. The factories would be compelled legally to report into the system daily. It would go some way towards ending the high level of mistrust between the farmers and factories. I have never seen such mistrust. I have been in situations involving striking workers and employers where there was little trust and great anger on both sides. However, I have never seen the level of mistrust and anger that is involved in this situation. I am taken aback by how far people have gone with this. We have to try to rebuild, as we all recognise. Only then will we be able to see the huge gap between what the customer pays and what the farmer gets, and who is being ripped off.

I recognise that progress has been made in the beef talks with regard to better bonuses and premiums for cattle, and also that the processors have agreed to drop all legal action against protestors. There are some positive steps but they do not go far enough. I also want to say to the Minister, in a helpful way, that the statement put out on his Facebook page last evening has not helped matters, unfortunately. I met farmers today who were taken aback by some of the content. Those farmers who are represented by the Independent Farmers of Ireland do not believe they are being unreasonable or difficult for the sake of it. They do not want to be on the picket line and would prefer to be on their farms working. They feel they have no other choice because the deal does not go far enough. All they want is a fair deal. All the signs are that they will not leave the picket lines no matter who tries to talk to them unless the baseline price is dealt with and trust is rebuilt. Farmers who have been protesting in places like Rathdowney and at the National Ploughing Championships today are loud and clear that they will not go home and we will be back in the same situation in six months' time unless those issues are dealt with.

The sums do not add up. I recognise that new premium payments have been proposed that will increase bonuses for quality cattle, but the big suspicion is that the processors will simply reduce the baseline price, which would completely wipe out the bonus payment. The Minister said there will be a bonus payment for 70% of all cattle being killed. That is good, but the problem is that every farmer to whom I have spoken firmly believes the factories will simply pull down the baseline payment. I say that with all sincerity to the two Ministers present. They believe that is the next move. Farmers are the most vulnerable link in the beef supply chain. It is time we put an end to that.

The beef sector needs a more proactive approach. It needs the Minister to get all the stakeholders back around the table for one last time to get the deal over the line for all farmers, especially the small and medium size farmers who are outside the factories picketing out of sheer desperation. They are out there because they know this is their last stand. They know that this is the last opportunity they have to save their livelihoods. That is the reality.

The information I have is that there is a monopoly situation in meat processing. The five major producers depend on one company to take the offal. One major operator can effectively manipulate the industry if it wishes. I urge the Minister to take the issue seriously and to respond to me on it in the coming days. The situation must be investigated by the Department and by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission as a matter of urgency, because if one major operator controls one part of the processing industry it has huge influence over the other four processors. If we want a beef industry then farmers need to receive a fair price because if the farmers do not have a livelihood and are producing at a loss we know where this is going. The Minister of State, Deputy Doyle, is a farmer as well. It is the iron law of economics that one cannot run at a loss over a period. The processors know that as well.

Further progress is needed. The beef emergency aid measure must be renewed and improved. The €50 million is available but it is restrictive. Another scheme is needed because we are in a crisis. We must sustain farm families, keep the beef industry in this country and make sure that we have a good quality beef industry. We must get the current dispute resolved, get the factories back open again and ensure farmers have a fair price for quality produce.

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