Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank all speakers from all sides. It is important to have debates on agriculture and fisheries. While I acknowledge some of the positive aspects of the Minister's reply, I propose to press the motion to a vote.

Whereas the Minister pointed out strongly in his response that there is no real crisis in beef apart from the bull beef issue, if one had looked at this in January and February, one would have envisaged a crisis. If we had had an opportunity to have tabled this motion four weeks ago, the Minister's replies would have been less emphatic. Senator Thomas Byrne spoke about the need to establish a beef regulator. I listened to the Minister's response. I would not dismiss the idea out of hand. It is a door that should be kept open and looked at again.

The IFA and other farm organisations have done good work in conjunction with the Minister, Bord Bia and the meat factories to achieve a proper balance on the issue. Many farmers who rear bull beef are not grass-based but use intensive protein feeding with a view to having the animals ready at 16 months. Even they have found difficulties. I accept there is not a lot of demand in the market for bulls who, having been initially grass fed and finished on protein, run on to 20 or 22 months. Encouragement was given, particularly to younger farmers, to go down that road as there was a niche market. They now find themselves in some difficulty. Where that encouragement came from, I am not sure. Young farmers in their 30s who embarked on these projects and find themselves in serious difficulty have outlined to me that they were encouraged, if not necessarily by the Minister.