Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The idea behind setting up the national food ombudsman office or regulator is to ensure there will be an office in place to assess issues such as this and to ensure all activity in the market and activities that have an impact on the market will be fully delved into and have a light shone on them so we can have the necessary transparency.

I am interested in hearing the Deputy’s developed thoughts and ideas on this, including his definition of a feedlot as opposed to a specialist beef finisher, for example. As he knows, many suckler farmers do not finish their own animals. They are bought and finished by specialists. Some farmers specialise in finishing. There are various degrees and sizes of specialist finishers. A feedlot might be owned by or have a relationship with a factory. I am interested in hearing any ideas the Deputy has in addition to those he is expressing today. The office of the food ombudsman will be ideally placed, when established, to assess this matter and the impact on the market.

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