Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I hope the Minister is not going to sell out the beef sector and the Irish farmers as he has just sold out the fisheries. I have huge concerns over the fact that beef cattle are now averaging €3.75 per kg. This is well below the break-even target figure of €4.50 per kg. I am aware that we are in the middle of a pandemic and many people are working from home. Our farmers are working from home 365 days a year. Beef farmers are a long way short of breaking even. Is the Minister aware that some farmers are using a percentage of their single farm payment for the production of cattle so that they can stay in business, rather than for their families? What controls are going to be out in place to stop the cartel-like system that the factories are operating? I brought this issue up earlier with the Tánaiste and asked him to raise it with the Minister. At the moment, when factories are audited, end-of-year figures are used to work out an average price. If the factories were audited throughout the year, it would be apparent that the feeder groups for those factories are getting the highest price and people involved with the factories are receiving the highest single farm payments. They are getting the highest price for their cattle within the factory system. What is the Minister going to do about this? When is he going to stand up and save Irish beef farmers? There was €5 billion put in place by the EU to support agriculture. Following the UK exit from the EU, are Irish farmers first on the list to be compensated? Irish agriculture is constantly under threat from cheap imports coming into the UK. What is being put in place to safeguard against the beef coming in from South America?

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