Results 2,381-2,400 of 10,862 for speaker:Matt Carthy

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Task Force: Discussion (6 Jul 2021)

Matt Carthy: The beef task force has put the minutes on the website to ensure that farmers are aware of their entitlements. That is essentially the response to that. Are the witnesses satisfied that the processors are honouring their side of the agreements that were made?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Task Force: Discussion (6 Jul 2021)

Matt Carthy: Is Mr. Dowling satisfied that, for example, weighing at processing plants is universally happening?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Task Force: Discussion (6 Jul 2021)

Matt Carthy: We can say, then-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Task Force: Discussion (6 Jul 2021)

Matt Carthy: So essentially, we are saying that the meat factories can pick and choose which aspects of the agreement they consider they are required to implement?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Task Force: Discussion (6 Jul 2021)

Matt Carthy: Is there a mechanism there? An agreement has been in place. It was publicised to a degree. I am not sure if the detail of it has been conveyed to all farmers concerned. What recourse is there, when meat factories do not adhere to their end of that agreement?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Task Force: Discussion (6 Jul 2021)

Matt Carthy: Mr Dowling mentioned that the protected geographical indication, PGI, status was a success. However, it is not through yet. What estimate has been made by the beef task force in respect of an additional price that will be made available, either in percentage or real terms on a per kilo basis, for those cattle that meet the PGI status?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Task Force: Discussion (6 Jul 2021)

Matt Carthy: What equivalent product is there in respect of PGI status for an Irish grass-fed standard that potentially will encompass 90% of beef? Is there another PGI equivalent to which we could compare that, at the European level?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Task Force: Discussion (6 Jul 2021)

Matt Carthy: I am aware of the work that the task force has done on the issue of getting the agreement the witnesses have spoken about, as well as the efforts the Department is putting in to bring this PGI application over the line. It would be a travesty if at the end of the day, the PGI status simply became another “inspect bonus” or that in other words, it became a penalty for those who...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Task Force: Discussion (6 Jul 2021)

Matt Carthy: On suckler beef and the promotion therein, what needs to happen to deliver an additional price for the suckler product? What work has Bord Bia been doing or has committed to do? What differential is made or can be made? Has the task force looked at and examined the issue of factory-owned feedlots and their impact on the sector and on the overall pricing structures for the beef market?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Task Force: Discussion (6 Jul 2021)

Matt Carthy: I have a brief question for the chairman of the beef task force on the feedlot beef that I reference. To maintain our image as a green producer of food, would it be useful for the sector were feedlot beef to be labelled as such?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Task Force: Discussion (6 Jul 2021)

Matt Carthy: Okay, I will take that as a "No". A defining question then is whether Mr. Dowling considers the beef industry to operate with cartel-like behaviour.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Task Force: Discussion (6 Jul 2021)

Matt Carthy: I am coming to it in a minute.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Task Force: Discussion (6 Jul 2021)

Matt Carthy: Yes, I see that. The difficulty is, and the hope would have been, that a beef task force might have taken on that job because it is simply impossible for a farmer or group of farmers to prove what is apparent to many. Having read the Grant Thornton reports and the CCPC responses of last year that will probably be reiterated to Mr. Dowling, has anybody given him an easy to understand...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Task Force: Discussion (6 Jul 2021)

Matt Carthy: Why then will the task force have the CCPC before it in a webinar format?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Task Force: Discussion (6 Jul 2021)

Matt Carthy: It is to discuss the issue of pricing or allegations of price-fixing.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Task Force: Discussion (6 Jul 2021)

Matt Carthy: There are clearly members of the task force who have the same view as I have of that body's potential to deliver some transparency.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Task Force: Discussion (6 Jul 2021)

Matt Carthy: Having read the CCPC responses to the allegations that were made previously, and given it did not actually engage with MII before it published its findings, does Mr. Dowling consider the CCPC to be up to the role it has in investigating these matters?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Task Force: Discussion (6 Jul 2021)

Matt Carthy: I have a final point and I will come back in at the end if there is time. Having gone through the number of hearings and engagements he has, does Mr. Dowling see a role for an independent beef regulator? If so what additional powers should it have above the existing statutory bodies?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Task Force: Discussion (6 Jul 2021)

Matt Carthy: I thank Mr. Dowling for his answers.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Task Force: Discussion (6 Jul 2021)

Matt Carthy: I want to go back to the 30-month and four movement rules. The task force is essentially putting its hands up and saying that nothing can be done and that these rules are in place. The penalties, as I would describe them because I do not believe they are bonuses, will continue to be in place. Is that a fair reflection of the task force's position?