Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach for giving me the opportunity to come in at this late hour. I want to speak about the beef industry and the significant news that broke this morning regarding major movement in the Chinese market, which has seen a tenfold increase this year, which is something we need to welcome. The beef industry has gone through turmoil in the past eight or ten months. The news that has broken is significant as we have seen our exports go from €7 million last year to almost €21 million in the first eight months of this year. To see another 14 factories licensed by China to send product there is something we need to welcome. It is a real step forward for the beef industry. It is great news after a very tough year. We need to start talking up the industry. Our beef industry and product is one of the best in the world and we are opening markets throughout the world to deal with an oversupply of beef, mainly because of the Brexit fluctuation we have at present. This is something we need to acknowledge and do more work on to ensure we get more markets. We need these markets to ensure we have a sustainable and progressive meat industry that can supply the meat the world is looking for.