Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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My role in relation to the beef sector is to create a policy and support environment that will allow it to flourish in line with normal market principles. As the Deputy will appreciate, questions of price are ultimately matters to be determined between the purchasers and the sellers of cattle. Cattle prices are determined by supply / demand dynamics which are in turn influenced by the seasonality of production, the length of the production lifecycle and market conditions such as retail promotions, consumer confidence, competition with other meats and the overall macro-economic situation. It is neither appropriate nor possible for me or any other Minister for Agriculture in the EU, to intervene directly on these issues. The State, through the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, already has a well established infrastructure for dealing with allegations of anti competitive practices and I do not consider it appropriate to replicate that structure by establishing a beef regulator. Of course, if the Deputy is in possess ion of any information regarding uncompetitive practices in the beef sector, I would encourage him to bring this to the attention of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission.

I also believe it is important that the sector operates in a transparent manner and there is a wealth of information available to farmers under the Beef Pricewatch section on my Department’s website, including the prices for Steers, Cows, and Heifers across the classification grid, for each DAFM approved factory. Improved transparency has also been delivered through the introduction of a Beef Pricewatch App which was developed by my Department. The App presents a range of up to date price information in a user-friendly fashion and is available free of charge to farmers and others interested in this information. The feedback from the users to date has been extremely positive and my Department is already looking at adding new features.

As regards current price levels, it should be noted that prices for R3 steers in Ireland have risen by 26 cents per kilo since the beginning of September. This is an increase of over 7% during this period and Irish prices are now at 101% of the EU15 average price. I should also note recent agreement on a number of outcomes through the Beef RoundTable process. This agreement addresses a range of the issues raised by farmers in recent months, particularly as regards market signals and product specifications. The RoundTable also endorsed the development of Producer Organisations which should, in my view, go a long way to addressing negotiating power along the supply chain and ensure a fair return to beef producers over the medium to long term.