Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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Question 13: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food his views on the proposed introduction of a quality payment system for the beef sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43604/09]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy is aware, the price paid for beef is a matter for the industry and the farmers who supply cattle.

Beef carcases are classified or graded in accordance with EU Regulations using the EUROP scale for conformation and a scale of 1 to 5 to indicate fat cover. In most cases, the classification or grading result is used by the industry to determine the price paid to farmers.

Each main class for both conformation and fat can be further divided into sub-classes in order to further refine the grading assessment of beef carcases and recent studies at Teagasc Grange have shown that the use of sub-classes to determine the price paid per kg of carcase would be justified.

Mechanical grading was introduced over five years ago in Ireland and is now well established and accepted as an independent, objective and consistent system for classifying beef carcases.

The mechanical grading result includes sub-classes for both conformation and fat. However, the industry has not, to date, used the sub-class assessment as a basis of payment to farmers, with the exception of conformation grade P and fat grade 4. In Ireland the majority of steer and heifer carcases are graded R or O – 87% of steers and 91% of heifers in 2008 – for conformation and the industry is considering the use of sub-classes in order to reward farmers for producing the better quality and higher value carcases. The use of sub-classes when paying for cattle would send a clear message back to the farmer on the type of carcase required for the market and clearly would be a fairer system of payment.

Meat Industry Ireland (MII), and the farmers' representatives (IFA) are currently engaged in discussions concerning the introduction of a pricing grid for beef which would make use of sub-classes as a basis for payment. Such a pricing system would reward those farmers who produce a better quality carcase and overall would, I believe, be a welcome development for the beef industry.