Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We have had two rounds of talks. Those talks concluded this weekend with an agreement endorsed by the Minister, the meat industry and the six farm organisations representing the vast majority of farmers in this country. That is where we are today. The base price, as I explained earlier, is roughly the same across Europe. It is a market price, largely a function of supply and demand. There is no legal way to fix a price. That is not how it is done. It is not legal to do that. What is possible though is for farmers to join producer organisations which can then negotiate a price and proper contracts with the meat factories-----

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