Michelle Mulherin (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

If we do not address these problems, the next generation will not be interested in getting involved in farming. We have a proud agricultural tradition in this country; if we do anything well, it is farming. Farmers are up to meeting the challenges of the market and of climate change, but they are not being given a chance to do so. I welcome the initiative by the Minister, Deputy Creed, in going out to speak to the protestors, but it is time for everybody involved to sit around a table. There are no farming organisations out there today, such is the disarray in which we find ourselves.

Meat Industry Ireland cannot just sit back and let others deal with the issue of the injunctions. It must be proactive on the matter, and it is in its interests to take that approach. Bord Bia and the Government are working hard to win markets for the sector in China and elsewhere. What is going on is not acceptable. We want farmers off the street and back on their farms and we want the beef market task force up and running and doing the job it is supposed to do. It is a tough job but it must be done.

I will finish by giving some figures that illustrate starkly the difficulties for farmers. In June 2018, farmers were getting €4.40 per kilogram of beef from the factories.