Paraic Brady (Fine Gael)

I raise an issue of daylight robbery, simply, and I will use that phrase. We have seen the meat processors again this week reducing the price of lamb by another 20 cent per kilogramme. Everybody knows what happened in the beef sector over the past number of years, where the same processors have brought the decline of cattle into a state where now we see almost 3,700 fewer cattle killed this week than during the same period last year. Cattle numbers have declined. Sheep farmers all over Ireland are now getting hammered to a stage where they have produced a product, and now we see a product that is only paid to 21 kg. It is after getting hammered two weeks on the trot, yet we see supply and demand is there for the product. However, the factories and Meat Industry Ireland, MII, have continued to rob a sector that is in decline. I ask MII to issue a statement regarding why the processing sector is in freefall. Why has it done this repeatedly? This has to be dealt with. Farmers are being asked to produce a quality food in this country under regulations, yet we have MII, representing the processors, hammering the farmers again. This is robbery of the highest order. This cannot and should not be allowed to continue in this country. If we intend to protect our food, and everybody wants to protect the food source, we must protect the people who produce it.