Cathal Berry (Kildare South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I want to raise with the Minister the very concerning and serious developments during the week whereby access to the Chinese market for Irish beef has been suspended temporarily. The Minister will be fully aware that this is the last thing needed at this moment by those in Irish agriculture, particularly suckler farmers, and particularly after the year just gone. We have had historically high input costs for feed, fuel and fertiliser and we have reduced margins and CAP payments. We have had the disastrous nitrates directive and awful weather, and now we have this. It is tragedy heaped on tragedy, and the blows just keep on coming.

That said, we must be grateful for small mercies in that the BSE case was isolated, nowhere near the feed or food chain, which is good. It was most likely an atypical case. Most likely, it was spontaneous in origin rather than transmitted. Most reassuring of all, it was detected by Irish authorities and communicated very transparently by them across the world. We have many generations of Irish farmers to be thankful for because the reputation of Irish beef from grassland and quality points of view has come to the rescue. I recognise that China triggers an automatic suspension once a case is detected, but I very much welcome the fact that the other 70 countries to which we export beef have not responded at all. That is a testament to the quality of Irish beef and our farmers down through the years.

There is a lot of worry in the agriculture community, even though our exports to China so far this year have been worth only €16 million. Could the Minister use his time to give us some background to the BSE case? Is there any indication as to how long it will be before the temporary suspension is lifted and access restored? Are we talking about days, weeks, months or longer? What engagement has there been between the Minister's officials and their counterparts in China or the Chinese Embassy, for instance?

The Tánaiste is in China at the moment. Could the Minister indicate whether he has spoken to his counterparts there about this issue? If not, will he consider it before returning to this country?

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