Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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467. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views regarding the Bord Bia data which show that the key R3 steer cattle price here is now over €1/kg below the same R3 steer cattle price in the main export market in Britain and that this amounts to a price differential of over €350 per animal; his plans to ensure farmers get a fair price for their cattle; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42093/14]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will appreciate, questions of price are ultimately matters to be determined between the purchasers and the sellers of cattle. It is neither appropriate nor possible for me or any other Minister for Agriculture in the EU to intervene directly on these issues. Cattle prices are determined by supply/demand dynamics which are in turn influenced by a range of different factors such as consumer preferences, distance to market, consumer confidence , retail promotions, competition with other meats and the overall macroeconomic situation.

It is, nonetheless, important that farmers are sufficiently remunerated for producing quality animals. Beef producers must be provided with appropriate production incentives that are reflective of market demands and are communicated to producers in a clear and timely manner. I will continue to engage with both farmers and processors to ensure that the market operates in a fair and transparent manner. My role is to create a policy support environment that will allow the beef sector to flourish in line with normal market principles.

I am committed to working with farmers and industry to deal with evolving price levels and to ensure we have the right measures in place to aid producers achieve better margins on their farms.

I have been actively engaging with the sector with the aim of mitigating the impact of the drop in prices from the highs experienced last year.

In the recent budget, I announced a total package of approximately €74 million for the beef sector in 2015, including a provision of €52 million for a proposed Beef Data and Genomics Programme which will place Ireland at the leading edge globally in the use of genomics in beef production. The current Genomics Scheme is being further developed and enhanced as part of a 6-year RDP measure which, once approved by the European Commission, will deliver a payment per animal of €100 for the first ten animals, with the remaining animals being eligible for an €80 payment per animal in participating herds.

The budget package also includes an additional sum of €9 million to fund the Beef Data Programme, €6 million to assist farmer participation in the Beef Quality Assurance Scheme, and a further €1 million for Bord Bia in support of its marketing of Irish products abroad, with a particular emphasis on beef. In addition there is continued budgetary provision for knowledge transfer in the sector through the Beef Technology Adoption Programme and support funding for investments in marketing and processing in the beef sector.

As the Deputy is aware, I established a Beef Roundtable earlier this year to facilitate such discussions between the parties and I convened the third meeting of this group last week. This meeting had a wide-ranging agenda and maintained a focus on the strategic development of the beef sector.  All of the main stakeholders were present, including farm bodies, meat processors and Government agencies. For the first time the round table included an exchange of views with the buyers of Tesco and McDonalds, who together are the biggest buyers of Irish beef, both by volume and value. The meeting was updated as regards the good progress made in implementing the recommendations of the Dowling report which I had commissioned as part of the Roundtable process. In addition, the stakeholders provided a strong endorsement for the establishment of farmer owned Producer Organisations in the beef sector to help to rebalance negotiating power along the supply chain.

At my request, farm groups and processors have also agreed to engage in intensive discussions over a two week period on the commercial issues in dispute, under an independent chair, Mr. Michael Dowling. For my part, I have agreed to hold another meeting of the forum next week to review progress.