Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

In the early 1990s, the beef tribunal examined serious allegations of political influence relating to alleged abuses of the system and failure of regulatory authorities. Its conclusion highlighted widespread improper relationships between the beef industry and the Government. It also stressed the lack of regulation and the impact of that on the sector.

Today, 30 years later, what has changed? We still have a system that makes a small few people incredibly wealthy at the expense of farmers. The system is still designed to work for the beef barons while small farms fade away and young farmers have no choice but to pursue other careers but the Government is not addressing that.

I welcome this motion to ensure that farmers are treated fairly by the industry. The need for proper regulation and oversight to protect farmers and for workers is crucial. I thank the Rural Independent Group for bringing forward this motion. The Social Democrats are in full support of it. I know the Rural Independent Group Deputies and we do not agree on some issues, but on this matter we are in complete agreement.

The least we can expect is fair pay for fair work. Unfortunately, this is not the case in the beef sector, as all Members know. We all know that small farmers and factory workers are at the mercy of an industrialised system. We all know about the cartel-like practices in the beef processing sector. In light of this common knowledge, the response of the Government has been abysmal. Ministers and backbenchers will claim they are representing farmers but, when it comes to tackling the beef sector, it is literally all bluster with no substance.

The beef task force, which is the response of the Government to the protests, is rightly criticised for its lack of progress and slow pace. The issues affecting small farmers are immediate but the solutions are always somewhere in the distant future. Representative organisations and members of the beef task force are expressing their frustration. They are seeing little impact after 18 months, with the major systematic imbalances remaining. The official reports are not sufficiently addressing the concerns of farmers. Moves for greater transparency are being met by farmers but practices within factories remain obscure. It is worth noting that it was agreed on the establishment of the task force that a regulator would be part of the discussion but it is yet to get on the agenda. Confidence in the effectiveness of the beef task force is eroding by the day. Without substantial intervention by the Minister to bring change that will be felt by farmers, it will fail.

The system is essentially rigged. The beef barons win every time and the average farmer loses slowly. It does not matter how many cattle you have, you will still lose out. This issue was never about the national herd; it is about prices farmers get. Follow the money. The problem is not environmentalism or the consumer and it is not farmers or workers in meat plants. Rather, it is the small few who are profiting off the back of farmers and factory workers. We need the Government to change tack and show us it is on our side. We need real State intervention and an independent meat regulator.

The motion rightly calls for an "independent beef regulator to address ... the structurally embedded power imbalance created by the de facto monopoly of existing processors and retailers". The scale of the beef sector and its structural inequalities mean that the proposed national food ombudsman will be unlikely to adequately deal with the issues. All Members know that. The Government has to recognise it. It has to establish an independent beef regulator with statutory powers to oversee and, crucially, to intervene in the sector. Anything less will fail another generation of farmers. An ombudsman operates within existing frameworks. In this scenario, it will be operating within existing failing frameworks. Although it is vital work, the sector needs a regulator, an independent office that can introduce sectoral codes of conduct and enforce legislation. This regulator needs to be producer-focused. Primary producers and small retailers can see and feel the absence of regulation to protect them.

In the meantime, current regulating authorities could have greater oversight of the sector. For example, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission has stated that there is no evidence of a cartel at work in the beef industry but the experience of many farmers - of everybody involved - is to the contrary. A full investigation by the commission into practices in the industry would be a welcome move. It is worth noting that there used to be a law preventing below cost selling which protected primary producers and small retailers but it was repealed in 2005 by the then Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, and now Taoiseach, Deputy Micheál Martin.

The motion also highlights the plight of workers in meat processing plants. Regrettably, the scale and persistence of Covid-19 outbreaks in these factories further illustrate the underlying issues in the sector. The Migrant Rights Centre Ireland described the disgraceful practices to the Special Committee on Covid-19 Response last summer, stating that "the meat sector is difficult and dangerous. Repetitive strain and workplace accidents are commonplace." Many meat factories do not offer sick pay beyond the statutory rate, which impacts on workers' income and choices about when to return to work after an injury or illness, or even during the current Covid-19 crisis. In addition, there are many migrants working in the industry, with non-EU workers’ residency depending on their job. They have limited access to social welfare and some 10% of them have very little or no English. These workers are incredibly vulnerable. We have to consider whether the treatment of a large number of migrant workers in this sector contributed to the conditions that facilitated the Covid-19 outbreaks.

The poor treatment of farmers and workers is intrinsically linked. It shows how industrial-scale meat processing treats people - farmers and workers. Farmers receive prices so low they are forced to protest again and again to save their family farms, while workers, especially the more vulnerable ones, are left open to infection. Principles of fairness and equity are very clearly lacking in this industry. It is not too much to expect that farmers get a fair price and that workers have safe working conditions. It is large-scale meat plants that are the issue here; it is not migrant workers, farmers or small abattoirs. It is obvious that the industrialisation of practices in the sector has increased the vulnerabilities of most stakeholders.

The beef industry has been described as a de facto monopoly where the market is dominated by a few large buyers. This concentration of power gives buyers considerable power over producers. The scale of the sector in terms of the national economy gives a handful of companies substantial political influence. Unless we tackle these fundamental issues, nothing will change. We need the State to step up and address these imbalances. We need an effective regulator, proper working conditions and fair prices.

Other Deputies have spoken about growing up on a farm and experiencing this first hand. I join with those Deputies. On my family farm, we are slowly winding down out of beef because it is completely unviable. The entire structural imbalance of power that I described is what people are experiencing on the ground across rural Ireland every day while contemplating whether to bother staying in the industry. When we see the demise of those small farms and they are all bought up by big dairy farms, that is when we will see the real demise of rural Ireland.

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