Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This afternoon I would like to raise the issue of where we are going with food inflation and how that issue will be debated, in particular in the next few weeks. It is an issue that this House should take a lead on. We should have a real, significant debate with the Ministers involved regarding food inflation. Our primary producers need to be protected in this debate. I am genuinely concerned about where these primary producers will go regarding this debate.

We cannot have a scenario where we will decide we will solve the food inflation issue by putting the burden straight back on our primary producers. I will give an example of where our product is going at present. The price of milk, which was 58 cent a litre - an all-time high - three months ago, has dropped 27.5% at the farmer's gate. It is now down to 41 cent, with another cut coming in the next few days. It will be at cost price by the end of May. That is a significant issue for the agricultural community that I represent. When you have this debate regarding price inflation, we have to take a look at who will be affected if they push this straight back on farmers' gates. It will have a serious impact on our industry.

What should happen is that the profits in the multinational supermarket chains that are in Ireland should be published in Ireland. We need to know what these multinationals are making. Legislation should be put in place to ensure that supermarkets have their profits published so that we know where the money is being made. We know where the money is not being made. The money is not being made at the primary producer's gate. If dairy farmers in Cork are getting 40 cent a litre next May and there is to be another price cut, we will have a scenario where these people will be at cost price. When you go to the supermarket, you are paying €2.20 for 2 litres of milk. It is leaving the farm gate at 80 cent. Somebody is making an awful lot of money from the farmer's gate all the way to the supermarket chain. If we had a labelling system to set out who makes what on the food chain, it might help the consumer to understand where the issues are. One thing is for sure. The primary producer is not making the money. We need to have a significant debate on how we can support the primary producer.

I firmly believe that the liquid milk product we have at present will not be all Irish in a few years' time. I cannot see the sustainability for Irish dairy farmers to be involved in liquid milk production because of the movement within the market chain. Due to the supermarkets and their movement, I think they will move from liquid milk into manufacturing milk which will mean we will have to import milk at the corners of the year because we will not have enough milk in Ireland for our own economy. If that happens because of what we are doing here, it will be a thundering disgrace.