Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to raise this important issue, which is particularly relevant to my constituency in view of the loss of 90 jobs following the closure of Co-operative Poultry Products Limited, Cootehill, two weeks ago. This was a major blow to Cootehill and the surrounding areas. Unfortunately, the increased price of feedstuff and the difficulty in obtaining a fair price from the supermarket chains were major contributing factors in the difficulties facing the company. One of the main problems facing the pig and poultry industries is the increasing cost of feedstuff and their inability to secure an increased market price for their product from supermarkets to reflect the increased cost of production.

The issue of primary producers getting a fair price for their product is a long-running matter. The programme for Government contains a specific commitment to enact legislation to regulate certain practices in the grocery goods sector. The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Richard Bruton, intends to give effect to this commitment through legislation, which will allow for the introduction of a statutory code of practice in the grocery goods sector to provide some protection to primary producers. While I appreciate work is under way, it is vital it is treated as a matter of urgency since the entire poultry and pig industries are at risk. I ask the Minister of State for any assistance she can give to progress the matter as quickly as possible.

It is clear that, over recent years, the retail industry has been controlled by a very small number of multinationals. They are creaming off an unjust percentage of the retail price and using cheap poultry and pigmeat as loss leaders. Other issues of great concern are the level of cheap imports, which is killing the Irish trade, and the amount of loose chicken being imported from countries such as Brazil and Thailand which is available on butcher and supermarket counters.

I put down a parliamentary question some months ago and it was alarming to discover that poultry meat imports into Ireland have increased from 49,133 tonnes in 2002 to 85,361 tonnes in 2011. This is an increase of 74% in the amount of poultry meat imported into Ireland. Imports from Brazil have increased from 1,165 tonnes in 2002 to 4,022 tonnes in 2011, an increase of 245%. Imports from Thailand show an increase of 472% from 1,227 tonnes to 7,029 tonnes in 2011.

Speaking as a housewife who does look at the country of origin when doing my weekly shopping, I never see any labels that say produced in either Brazil or Thailand. We need to address this issue so Irish consumers know exactly what they are eating and where the food is coming from. Can the Minister guarantee that the chickens produced in Brazil or Thailand are produced under the same strict guidelines as those produced in Ireland, and is the slaughter line manned by veterinary staff as happens in Ireland?

There is huge amount of imported chicken going into the catering industry, and the Irish consumer is unaware of this fact. Unless it clearly states it is Irish produce most of the chicken we are consuming in restaurants, in fast food outlets, and sourcing from butchers is not Irish, and consumers are not aware of this.

The issue of labelling needs to be urgently addressed and the following information should be provided on all chicken and pork products that appear on Irish supermarket shelves: the name of the country where the animal or chicken is born; the name of country where it is reared or fattened; and the name of country where it is slaughtered. We need urgently to pass legislation on country of origin labelling that will allow the consumer to make an informed choice when purchasing meats. We also need to ensure the catering industry provides information to customers on where the meat they are consuming is being sourced.

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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I thank Deputy Humphreys for raising this issue. I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Simon Coveney. I will convey to him the issues raised by the Deputy. The issue of labelling is of particular concern to her.

The Minister is aware of the importance of the pigmeat and poultry sectors to the Irish economy. Together, these sectors have a farm gate value of almost €500 million and support over 13,000 jobs directly and in ancillary services. These sectors account for more than 70% of the meat consumed in Ireland and have a presence in all areas of the country.

The Minister and his Department are also aware of the concerns currently being expressed by the sector, particularly with regard to feed costs. High costs, most notably for cereals and compound feed, remain an issue. Producers are especially affected by the increase in cereal prices since June 2009, given that cereals account for approximately 70% of feed.

Market prices for cereal-based animal feed and soya are a function of global supply and demand dynamics, currency relativities, weather conditions and other external factors.

Increasing feed prices in 2012 have arisen, primarily due to poor weather conditions in the USA, Brazil, Argentina, Russia and the Ukraine. The expected shortage in cereals comes on top of relatively poor harvests in recent years, a growing world population and a rising middle class in China. Thus there is a rising demand for animal feed and animal feed-based products at a time when supplies are short. Given that Ireland imports much of the feed used in both the pigmeat and poultry sectors, the impact of price increases in these commodities is acute in these sectors.

Against this background, producers have in recent years taken measures to increase feed efficiency and output per unit. Furthermore, while input costs have increased significantly in recent years, the returns available to producers have also risen sharply. This has helped ameliorate the situation to some extent.

At the end of October, pigmeat prices were almost 24 cent per kilo ahead, year on year, which equates to an increase of more than 16%. Compared to the same week in 2010, per kilo prices have risen by over 40 cent per kilo, or almost 31%. The forecast decline in the European sow population and consequent lower production and ongoing high demand for European pigmeat internationally should lead to even higher prices in the coming months.

The production model in the poultry meat sector in Ireland is quite different from that in the pigmeat sector, with a high degree of vertical integration between processors, who supply stock, feed and other inputs, and growers, who typically provide housing and capital equipment and who rear the stock to slaughter age. In this sector the prices paid to growers depend on contractual arrangements with the processors. EU market statistics published last month suggest that broiler prices across the EU are marginally higher than in 2011, while CSO statistics for July suggest that output prices are 20.6% higher than last year.

The Deputy will be aware that, due to Ireland's membership of the Single Market, unilateral actions or interventions to support individual sectors is not permitted. For his part, however, the Minister and his officials will continue to press the European Commission to make use of all the available market supports when circumstances require it, to ameliorate the worst effects of price volatility. Indeed, the aids to private storage scheme introduced for pigmeat in 2011 played a significant role in putting a floor under pigmeat prices at that time. This, together with release of cereal stocks from intervention, improved the situation somewhat at that time.

In the context of CAP post 2013, the Minister will continue to press for the retention of flexible market support schemes which can be deployed as a safety net when circumstances require, with a view to ameliorating the worst effects of price volatility.

Domestically, a number of initiatives have been explored and developed. For example, Teagasc, through its Moorepark pig research facility and the provision of FETAC courses in pig production and benchmarking pig herd performance, plays a critically important role in improving productive capacity at farm level. Teagasc has also circulated producers with a number of the options available to them to reduce feed costs and improve feed efficiency.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and its agencies have supported both the pigmeat and poultry sectors through the provision of capital investment grants to assist in compliance with welfare regulations, through Bord Bia's promotional campaigns and through the development and operation of the Bord Bia Pigmeat and Poultry Quality Assurance Programmes, PQAS, which are a critical component in consolidating the position of Irish product on the domestic market.

With regard to upcoming animal welfare changes in the pig sector, the Department introduced a targeted agricultural modernisation scheme, TAMS, for sow welfare in June 2010. Grant aid is available at a rate of 40% to eligible producers. The provisions of the scheme were modified earlier this year to allow multiple applications from pig farmers with more than one sow house, together with an increase in the ceiling to €500,000 for the first house and €300,000 for each of the next three. Furthermore, in order to ensure that as many pig producers as possible would be in a position to comply with the new EU animal welfare rules, the Minister extended the closing date for applications to the end of January 2013. All applications received during the period of this extension would now be included in a new final tranche for which a sum of €3 million has been made available. The final date for completion of work and the lodgment of payment claims is 30 September 2013. This will bring to €16 million the funding made available to pig producers under the sow welfare scheme.

In the poultry sector, the Department also operated a scheme to assist egg producers in complying with the conversion to enriched cage production systems in 2011. A total of €16 million was made available and a subsequent Food and Veterinary Office, FVO, audit in February of this year confirmed that Ireland had complied fully with the requirements.

In so far as international trade is concerned, the Minister has been extremely active in developing relationships in new and expanding markets in order to build the kind of confidence in Irish production and control systems that provide a platform for long term trading relationships in the future. During his trade mission to China earlier this year, the Minister raised the issue of market access for both pigmeat and poultry, and hopes that this engagement will ultimately deliver a considerable return for the Irish pig and poultry sectors.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for her response. I note that she says the Minister is aware of the concerns I have raised. I am glad to hear that.

What the pig and poultry producers are looking for is support, not necessarily financial support, from the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

I want to reinforce the lack of information that we have on imported poultry and pigmeat. As an example, we have no idea what percentage of meals provided in publicly funded places such as hospitals, prisons, Army barracks, Government Departments or, indeed, in this House are of Irish or imported origin. We need an assurance that the produce we eat is Irish.

The true potential of the poultry and pork industry is not being fully realised and in order for these two industries to play their part in meeting Harvest 2020 targets they need to be supported and given the same opportunities as the beef, lamb and dairy industries.

The poultry sector has requested assistance from the Minister in setting up a poultry council so that all stakeholders can work together for the benefit of the industry. I ask the minister to facilitate this.

The difficulties facing the pig and poultry industry are serious.

If this is not treated as an urgent matter, we are going to find ourselves in a serious situation where the future of these industries will be under threat, which will have a hugely negative impact, particularly on the Cavan-Monaghan area, which has a high percentage of pig and poultry farmers. I ask the Minister of State to convey that to the Minister.

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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I will convey that to the Minister. I have outlined some of the supports the Minister has provided, particularly on two issues, the poultry council and labelling. We all want to be aware that what we purchase and eat is Irish and is not labelled misleadingly. The Government wants to do everything it can to clarify this so I will pass on the Deputy's concerns to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

Seán Kenny (Dublin North East, Labour)
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We will now move to the third topical issue from Deputy Brendan Ryan. We agreed at the outset that because the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan, is replying to the first and third issues, we would take them in that order.

John Perry (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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I am answering the second issue.

Seán Kenny (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Then we will revert to the original order.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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The lady Minister was going great.

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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I will back for the third issue, Mattie.