Michael Harty (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I forgive the Deputy. I thank the Minister for engaging with me on this issue and for speaking to me last week when I contacted him.

There is one meat processing factory in Clare, Kepak, which is located just outside Ennis. Effectively, it has the monopoly on beef processing in the county. As has been the case with all other factories across the country, farmers have been protesting outside the Kepak plant for more than two weeks. This is their second time doing so, having already protested earlier in August. Production has stopped, as is the case across the country. That is not in anyone's best interests. The Minister is aware of this. Farmers are fighting for their livelihoods and they are furious about the way they are being treated. They are very angry and that is the reason these protests are continuing. If these protests fail, the viability of rural communities will also fail because farming is the backbone of a community. The agribusinesses that support farming will fail. That will have a knock-on effect on schools and post offices as farmers are driven from the land.

Producing beef and being paid at a price below the cost of production is not sustainable. I know the Minister understands that also. That is particularly galling when other players in the meat industry - the processors and the retailers - are making substantial profits. That is not in the best interests of anybody. It is not in the best interests of the processors, even though they might not know it, the factory workers - who are now being laid off - Ireland's reputation, retailers or, ultimately, consumers.

The President's remarks at the National Ploughing Championships earlier were evocative. He stated that we must protect those who produce our food and treat them fairly. He stated that they are entitled to a fair share of the fruits of their labour.

Family farms are the backbone of Ireland. We have external threats to farming. Brexit is an external threat. Mercosur is an external threat but here we have Meat Industry Ireland, the processors - an internal threat - destroying the viability of rural Ireland.

When there is only one purchaser, and effectively we have only one purchaser because there is a conglomerate of beef producers who work collectively, there has to be effective transparency. There has to be structures, which include fair treatment for farmers, to ensure there is proper vigilance. Those are not in place at the moment so we must respect the work that beef farmers do.

I have spoken to a beef farmer who takes pride in what he produces. He loads up his cattle on a lorry to go to the processor and he is proud of the work he has put into those animals but he is shocked when he gets his cheque after they are slaughtered because he has done everything required of him. He has been transparent, complied with all the regulations and produced a high-quality animal yet when that animal goes into the processing factory, he gets a cheque which is way below the value of those animals.

Farmers are engaging in a physical blockade but the meat processors are engaging in a financial blockade. Effectively, they are driven by profit and there is a lack of both transparency and fair play. In effect, they are the target the Minister should speak to because unless they are forced to produce and pay a price which is equal to the cost of production, the farming community will get nowhere. If they will not do that, then there has to be a full investigation into the activities of the meat processing industry in order to ensure that they are not involved in price fixing, price manipulation or price control and that they are not operating a cartel. The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission must look into the activities of the meat industry to ensure that they are not acting in an anti-competitive manner.

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