Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This is a welcome opportunity to discuss unfair practices that our farmers have been subjected to for years, while all the time, their concerns have been ignored; allowing the meat industry to take them for granted. We have seen farmers continually disadvantaged at every turn, despite the efforts they made through their representative organisations or in some cases, by themselves, when they took to the streets of the capital and demonstrated outside meat factories. Yet, as we have seen, a hands-off approach has been taken to the meat processing industry. This has been evident in the demands made of farmers and the prices they traditionally get from the processors. When penalties are wrapped up and presented as bonuses, then we know that there is something inherently wrong.

Let us take the 30-month rule which was introduced in response to the BSE crisis. It still remains in place, despite wide understanding that it is outdated. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has washed its hands of dealing with this demand and the impact it is having on farmers. Then there is the four-movement rule, which the processors alone seem to dominate, and which is not something demanded by Bord Bia. It is just a way for those in the meat processing cartel to prevent farmers from having some level of say over price. I will take these two in-spec demands for a moment. The term bonus is a misnomer as in reality it is just a way to ensure that penalties exist in order to pay them less. They are not legitimate rules: that is why the Department does not oversee the implementation of these decisions. Instead, they allow cartels to pay less for animals that do not fall into these categories. All the time the meat industry benefits and is shrouded in secrecy.

During the pandemic we have seen some of the practices that have been ongoing in some of these factories. We have seen reports outlining major concerns about safe working conditions. Secrecy has surrounded concerns about Covid outbreaks. In September of last year, I became aware that Covid testing had been suspended at all meat factories due to the need for testing resources to be put elsewhere.

This was despite the fact that, only days before, a cluster of the virus was discovered at a factory in my own county. In nearly every way we can imagine, different rules seem to apply to meat processing factories. Most recently, this became apparent when Meat Industry Ireland made claims that farmers receive 80% of total sales revenue earned by processors. This was laughable considering that Grant Thornton, which undertook the study on behalf of the beef market task force, was refused data by Meat Industry Ireland.

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