Results 6,061-6,080 of 10,843 for speaker:Matt Carthy

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Challenges Facing the Pig Industry: Discussion. (13 Apr 2022)

Matt Carthy: Going back to the levy, Mr. Buckley is speaking about it as if it is still a live prospect. Is that what the IFA has taken from its deliberations with the Department?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Challenges Facing the Pig Industry: Discussion. (13 Apr 2022)

Matt Carthy: All right, but did the association get the sense from its discussions with the Department that it was amenable to the option of this type of scheme?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Challenges Facing the Pig Industry: Discussion. (13 Apr 2022)

Matt Carthy: Okay.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Challenges Facing the Pig Industry: Discussion. (13 Apr 2022)

Matt Carthy: I thank our guests for attending. In terms of the role of the industry in the current crisis, is it Mr. Carroll's position that the sector cannot pay more than it is currently paying and that there is no further scope for that? Is there a particular reason for there being such a disparity between the prices being paid in Ireland and the EU average? I have more questions, but perhaps I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Challenges Facing the Pig Industry: Discussion. (13 Apr 2022)

Matt Carthy: Yes, I will get those specifics first.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Challenges Facing the Pig Industry: Discussion. (13 Apr 2022)

Matt Carthy: What is the EU average price now?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Challenges Facing the Pig Industry: Discussion. (13 Apr 2022)

Matt Carthy: I have some short questions and I ask for brief responses. I am conscious of the time. We were discussing earlier with representatives from the IFA the potential for what would essentially be a loan scheme, with funds allocated to that scheme being paid back through a levy. Would the witnesses see the meat industry as having the capacity to put money towards such a scheme?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Challenges Facing the Pig Industry: Discussion. (13 Apr 2022)

Matt Carthy: No. I am asking whether the meat industry would, if the Government were open to the proposal but said it needed to get the financing from somewhere, make a contribution. Would the meat industry work in partnership with the-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Challenges Facing the Pig Industry: Discussion. (13 Apr 2022)

Matt Carthy: I understand that part, but the levy would be used to repay the funding stream.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Challenges Facing the Pig Industry: Discussion. (13 Apr 2022)

Matt Carthy: In order to have that funding stream in place, would the industry be in a position to work with the Government and financial institutions to provide the funding in the first place?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Challenges Facing the Pig Industry: Discussion. (13 Apr 2022)

Matt Carthy: My next three questions are interlinked, so I will ask them together. Slaughter capacity was the starting point of us being made aware of the potential crisis in the pig sector. I first became aware of the crisis when factories in the North indicated that they could not take southern stock due to labour shortages. Has the issue of capacity been addressed in the intervening period? I also...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Challenges Facing the Pig Industry: Discussion. (13 Apr 2022)

Matt Carthy: I have a broader question, which I also put to the IFA, on the heads of the Minister's Bill on an office of transparency and fairness for the sector. What might the impact of that office be on the meat industry and has Mr. Healy concerns that it could lead to greater regulation of his sector?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Challenges Facing the Pig Industry: Discussion. (13 Apr 2022)

Matt Carthy: I thank Mr. Healy.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Fixed-Price Milk Contracts: Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (13 Apr 2022)

Matt Carthy: I thank ICOS for being here and I agree with Deputy Fitzmaurice's suggestion. I want to elaborate on the point he has made because ICOS's opening statement states: "It is important to clearly state, that these are agreed contracts, which unfortunately cannot be renegotiated." That is not how contracts work. A contract means it cannot be amended unilaterally. Contracts are changed all the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Fixed-Price Milk Contracts: Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (13 Apr 2022)

Matt Carthy: We know that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Fixed-Price Milk Contracts: Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (13 Apr 2022)

Matt Carthy: We all agree on that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Fixed-Price Milk Contracts: Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (13 Apr 2022)

Matt Carthy: Is it the retailer or is it a step back from the retailer? Somebody is paying 25% below the market cost for a product. I have been around SuperValu, Aldi and Lidl I have not seen specials for 25% off milk on any of the shelves.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Fixed-Price Milk Contracts: Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (13 Apr 2022)

Matt Carthy: We are here today because farmers have come to us to say they are under serious pressure. We are going to ICOS because its members are the people who the farmers are selling the milk to-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Fixed-Price Milk Contracts: Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (13 Apr 2022)

Matt Carthy: -----so what is ICOS planning to do for the people it is in contract with? Would there be merit in a round-table conversation with the entire chain? People are making money on the backs of the livelihoods of others. Mr. O'Gorman has rightly said that the co-operatives will not be served well if some of these farmers are forced out of business because that will have a bigger impact in the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Fixed-Price Milk Contracts: Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (13 Apr 2022)

Matt Carthy: But they can be changed. That was the emphasis of the point I made.