Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

What has been discussed here in the past couple of hours reflects the position and the difficulties in the industry. We are all united in the view that the industry needs to be saved. It needs to be improved. We need to build trust and we need to try to make it sustainable for everyone. If it is not sustainable for the primary producer, as the Minister and the Minister of State will be aware, the show is over. We must all work to that end.

In the talks, I acknowledge that some progress was made. One can see that set out in the plan, in what is reported and in what has been revealed to us over the past couple of days. However, we can see it does not go far enough and the only place that will be settled is in further talks. Would the Minister agree to reconvene talks if that is clear across the sector? The factories are desperate for a solution. The farmers are desperate for a solution. As their political representatives, we want to see a solution. If there is a willingness on both sides, is the Minister willing to reconvene talks?

I ask these questions in the context of trying to come at it with solutions because we can come in and vent anger and everything like that but we must try to find solutions. I am not saying the Bill I brought forward is perfect but its aim is to try to get going the idea of legal underpinning of the price reporting. My party welcomes the fact that price reporting is built into what was agreed in the talks. That is a positive step forward. Can such price reporting be legally underpinned? One would not be setting prices. One would be stating that there was a computerised system where the factories would have to comply and feed in information daily, for example, on what price they were giving, for what bulk of cattle and for what grade. It is straightforward. Would the Minister and the Minister of State agree that is something we could consider as an option to try to achieve a solution to the trust issue? How many times has the word "trust" been mentioned here tonight? It is a real issue and I recognise that.

The simple fact is that the farm organisations that were at the talks went back to the picket lines but were not able to bring those picketing with them. The people in the room did their best but they were not able to sell it. They were not able to sell it because the farmers do not see it as stacking up economically for them. Does the Minister recognise it needs further negotiations and further movement?

Lastly, is the Minister concerned about the situation that I outlined regarding the offal industry, where nearly all of it is controlled by one major player because that leads to a most dangerous situation in terms of distorting the market?

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