Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Nolan and the Rural Independent Group for moving the motion. The importance of the agrifood industry to our economy cannot be overstated. Previous speakers have said that the beef sector supports more than 70,000 beef farmers. There are approximately 3,000 in County Kerry alone. The sector supports 10,000 jobs across processing, distribution and transport and is worth €2.5 billion. Most important, the money is spent locally. It is spent on the local concrete men when buying drainage. All the local suppliers benefit from the farmers.

Farmers are under pressure at the moment with the price of diesel and the results-based environment agri pilot project, REAP, scheme. The programme has been praised as working well but farmers have great concerns about it. Beef farmers do all the work here but they are the least fairly paid arising out of it. I echo the call of my colleague, Deputy Carthy, other Sinn Féin speakers and others for a properly independent regulator for this sector. A fair price would do much to help small farmers plan yearly income and outgoings rather than being left at the mercy of fluctuation in prices.

Intervention in markets is necessary to ensure they function properly. Farmers in County Kerry and elsewhere have been subject to unfair conditions for far too long. The beef regulator must be empowered to make the rules and penalties and enforce them. It must be able to carry out audits in meat factories and retailers. However, the evidence of what has taken place during the Covid-19 pandemic does not fill me with hope.

I wish to comment on the Mercosur beef deal. Beef sold into the European Union must be produced under the same standards, regulations and controls as those imposed on producers in Ireland. I heard the Minister say the negative impact must be minimised. That is only stating the obvious. The time is right now for an upper limit to be imposed.

Beef producers have been penalised for years by opaque fixing prices. I echo the comments made in respect of the four-movement rule. I was speaking to a farmer in Ballymacelligott in recent days who said the four-movement rule and the 30-day rule are nonsensical and must be abolished.

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