Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

9. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 612 of 25 February 2014, the names and owners of the ten rendering plants approved by his Department; if these plants are owned by the same person; his views on whether there is sufficient competition in the disposal of offal; if he has concerns regarding anti-competitive behaviour; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13945/14]

Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

My question asks that the Minister provide the names of the owners of the ten rendering plants approved by his Department and to indicate whether these plants are owned by the same individuals. I also ask the Minister if he believes there is sufficient competition within the sector.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

My Department approves and supervises the operation of rendering plants under the terms of the EU Animal By-Products, ABP, Regulation, (EC) 1069/2009. Such plants are approved to handle different classes of animal by-products, with category three being low risk material and category one being higher risk. There are five category three and five category one approved plants in the State at present.

With the exception of fallen animals collected and disposed of under the TSE subsidy scheme, which my Department operates to facilitate testing of bovines over 48 months as required by EU regulations, the rendering of material from meat plants and of fallen animal material is a matter for commercial arrangement. While my Department supervises the operation of such plants to ensure compliance with EU rules on animal by-products, it has no role regarding their ownership or commercial operations. If the Deputy has any specific information indicating possible breaches of competition rules he should pass it on to the relevant authorities.

The following are the details of the ten rendering plants approved by my Department: Waterford Proteins has a facility in Ferrybank, County Waterford; the Munster Proteins facility is in Cahir, County Tipperary; College Proteins is located in Nobber, County Meath; Farragh Proteins has a plant in Count Cavan; Dublin Proteins has two plants in County Wicklow; Slaney Proteins has a plant in County Wexford; Western Proteins has a plant in County Mayo; the SRCL plant is in Kylemore, County Dublin; and United Fish Industries runs a plant in Killybegs, County Donegal. As far as I am aware, these companies are in different ownership but if the Deputy has more information in that regard, I will try to be helpful on the matter.

Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his reply. The concern that I have heard expressed often in farming and trade circles - perhaps it is insinuation rather than fact - is that the number of companies involved in rendering is quite small and that there may be some links between them. Again, I am not sure if that is true but it is definitely a concern within the trade. It has been argued to me that because of this, such companies are able to tell the factories to drop their prices or they will not take offal and dispose of it. I asked for the list of companies involved so that the information is out in the open and if there is a connection between the companies, that can be proven. The concern I raise relates to competition and for that reason, it is important to put the company names on the record so that people can be confident that they are not connected.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

There are huge concerns about the concentration of ownership within the beef industry. In view of this, would the Minister be in favour of the introduction of a beef industry regulator, as is the case with other industries which are highly concentrated in terms of ownership?

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I will respond to Deputy Kyne's point before dealing with the issue raised by Deputy Ó Cuív. I have information on the associations which own the aforementioned companies which might be of use to the Deputy. Munster Proteins and Waterford Proteins are owned by the ABP Group; Dublin Proteins, which runs two facilities, is owned by the Ronan Group; Slaney Proteins is owned by Slaney Foods International; Western Proteins is owned by Dawn Meats; SRCL is part of the Stericycle Group; and United Fish Industries is a subsidiary of Welcon Invest AS. There is different ownership here. People talk all of the time about some kind of cartel operating in the beef industry but all I can say, based on my own experience, is that there is a lot of competition between the various beef companies. Companies like Dawn Meats, Kepak, ABP and so forth are in intensive competition with each other in terms of the markets they supply. There is also a host of other, smaller companies involved in the industry such as Kildare Chilling, Slaney Meats and so forth. We produce a lot of meat in Ireland, far more than our own market could support. We export huge volumes of meat and companies have been built on the back of those exports. I believe there is competition in the industry, although that might not be a popular thing to say. If there is any evidence to suggest that anything else is occurring in the marketplace, I would like to hear about it and will follow up on it.

I do not think we should put a beef regulator in place, independent of the Government, because that would suggest that there is something seriously wrong here. I am not sure that there is any evidence to support that suggestion. At the moment we have a very successful beef industry in Ireland which we are looking to build on further. If there is any evidence to suggest that there is something fundamentally wrong in terms of the structures or dominance within the market, the Competition Authority can investigate that. Let us not start raising concerns about the industry here without having some evidence to back them up.