Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

-----when our own beef is struggling in markets in various parts of the country.

In the context of the offal business, my next point is not for the Minister. Will he speak to the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport about lengthening the distances? Under EU legislation, we can go 250 km. Lengthening that might give options when one person controls 70% to 80% of this country's offal business. That situation holds many people to ransom and may not allow them to talk.

Whoever made the decision to take the legal route after the Minister had asked people to go to a gate and sell something needs to have a rethink. Mr. Cormac Healy needs to approach his processors and ask them to stand up and be counted once and for all, with less mouthing and more action, and to engage with the producer organisations, POs, tomorrow morning on doing what the sheepmeat POs have done and what is being done around Europe. This situation would then be solved in one day.

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