Paraic Brady (Fine Gael)

The Minister of State is welcome to the House. It is my first time to meet him in person. It is my first time to be elected to the Senate but I have always represented rural communities and farmers. I am a farmer myself and have in the past studied farmers' dissatisfaction with where the beef sector was.

I will provide some statistics I am sure the Minister of State is well aware of. The sector is responsible for the stewardship of 4.5 million ha of agricultural land in Ireland and over 800,000 ha of forestry. It consists of 133,000 farms, 2,000 fishing vessels, some of which are smaller than others, and 2,000 food production and beverage enterprises. It employs almost 171,500 people, representing 6.4.% of the total workforce in this country. In an increasingly globalised world, the Irish agrifood sector is a world leader. All of this is underpinned and made possible by the work of those producing the raw material. I am glad Senators have hit on that here. Raw material is produced by farmers and rural communities.

The Common Agricultural Policy is essential to supporting fair and significant income for farmers. The current CAP strategic plan 2023-27 delivers almost €2 billion in supports for Irish farmers and the food sector annually. Ensuring the CAP remains a key priority in the next EU budget or multi-annual financial framework is therefore absolutely essential for our country. If we are to protect the CAP, it is vital we position agriculture and food as major strategic priorities for the European Union. Farmers have a central role to play as food producers, employers and the foundation of sustainable rural communities. We must recognise and defend the essential role they play in building a sustainable Ireland for future generations.

I welcome the visits the Minister, Deputy Heydon, made to Asia in the past month and the Minister of State's visits overseas. Every market we open is another door we open into Europe.

One of the key ways we support the agrifood sector is by facilitating market access. Once that is in place and Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine officials have gained access to new markets or expanded availability for producers, then Bord Bia promotes and assists Irish companies in maximising exports. Networking with agriculture is pivotal in these areas. Our new markets include Beijing, Seoul, Tokyo, Washington, Mexico, Abu Dhabi and, as the Minister of State said, six in Europe. Currently, 17 countries are listed with beef, sheep, poultry and cooked meats. We must not forget the cooked meats sector. In the beef sector, Korea, Vietnam, China and Indonesia are our new markets. In the sheep sector, they are the USA, China, Malaysia, Algeria and Saudi Arabia, of course. In the pig sector, which is very supportive, they are Thailand, India, China and Mexico. For poultry, they are Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia and Türkiye. For cooked meats, they are USA, Morocco, Canada, Vietnam and Japan. I have named nearly every country in the world. Our product is sought after because we have put in place obstacles that Irish farmers in all sectors must adhere to. Regarding traceability, consider what we have asked farmers to do and the schemes we have asked them to sign up to. There is one thing we can do, which is to produce a high-quality food that not many countries in Europe cannot produce: a grass-fed based food. That is very important when we go to sell our product throughout the world. Our farmers have been asked to do what they have been asked to do in this and sign up to these schemes. They have done it. Let us treat these farmers with the respect they deserve. They produce high-quality food. I am wary of the EU-Mercosur trade deal, as my colleagues have said, where we allow a beef to come in from other countries that do not have the traceability and are allowed to use hormones. If people knew what is allowed in the beef in these other countries, they would not eat it. Our product would be even more sought after in these other countries.

I welcome the trade missions to Korea and Japan. There are 52 million people in Korea and it needs security of supply of food, which includes new meats and deals. The existing market could provide many opportunities. We gained beef access last year and they are looking to import our poultry. They ordered with us in the past year, which means it looks good for the year ahead. The Irish agrifood sector in 2024 exported €39 million worth of products to Korea. However, Korea is the 41st largest destination by value of agrifood export in the scope. It is a huge place with a huge population that we need to grow and expand on in the future. They are taking in 39% dairy products, 19% pig meat, just 19% fish, 12% beverages, which is very low, and just 5% animal feed. If we look at Japan, which has a population of 123 million people, we gained beef access in 2013 and sheep meat access in 2019. Korea is seeking to add poultry. Irish beef tongue, as my colleague alluded to, is very big in Japan. Donegal oysters and Flahavans oatmeal are highly sought after commodities in Japan. Our farmers in this country, as my colleague has alluded to, do not get paid for the fifth quarter, even though we export their products and see companies in this country gain a huge amount of money for the offal that is exported. Farmers in this country do not get paid for it, however. It is something we need to look at. The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission needs to step in and see what is happening.

The Irish agrifood sector exports 34% dairy to Japan, along with 28% pig meat, 10% fish, 12% beverages, which again is low, and 6% animal feed. As everybody said, €7.2 billion worth of products is exported to the UK, €2 billion worth to the USA, €1.6 billion to the Netherlands, €1.2 billion to France and €1 billion to Germany. A total of €174 million worth of products is exported to Japan and €39 million to Korea. To support our farmers and the country in general, we must now, with all the upheaval and wars that are taking place, look at Japan, Korea and Australia to see if we can improve, especially on our drinks sector, as some of our colleagues alluded to. We all have drinks companies around us, such as Lough Ree Distillery in Longford and Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin, which is a good news story down the road in County Leitrim. These businesses support local communities and have done over recent years. It is vital we support them in this time as we are coming through. We still have India, a huge market we need to look at. Organic food is heavily sought after but I do not think anybody has mentioned it. We support the organic food sector in this country. Our organic food is sought all over the world.

I will finish on this. The agrifood sector is the backbone of this country. I am very passionate about it. It is something we need to support if we intend for rural communities to survive. It is a good news story that the beef sector, the lamb sector and other sectors have done a lot better this year than in other years. However, in saying that, we have seen in recent weeks that the price of beef has fallen, and some farmers have bought beef at a high cost. We have seen the price of lamb products fall even though these products are sought globally. I hope this sector steadies itself and gives security to farmers to stay doing what we do best in this country, namely, produce food of high quality.