Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

94. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans to alleviate the current lamb crisis and market price volatility; his views on competition within the lamb trading market; the steps being taken to reduce barriers to live exports; the actions he will take to encourage competition in the live exports market; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27733/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

After a good opening quarter to 2015, where Irish factory prices were up by an average of almost 11% over the corresponding quarter in 2014, prices fell back during the second quarter. However, at the end of June the average year to date price was running at approximately 4% ahead of the same period last year. Just this week, I understand that prices have started to rise again and that demand for sheep and lamb by factories is rising. Prices during the second quarter have been affected by the combination of strong supplies, with a higher average carcass weight, and a reduction in demand on both the domestic market and in our key export markets. This may be attributable in part to the warm weather and a lower than normal increase in demand during Ramadan. At producer level I continue to put in place incentives to ensure that producers see a viable future in the sector. The Sheep Technology Adoption Programme (STAP) has been continued for a third and final year in 2015. In committing funding of €3 million to the programme I am acknowledging the success of the scheme in 2013 and 2014 in which 4,000 producers participated. Under the Rural Development Programme (RDP) 2014 -2020 I have made provision for improving efficiency and profitability in sheep production under the Knowledge Transfer Groups measure, which has an overall budget of €100 million. The experience in STAP has informed the development of this measure. In addition to profitability, the emphasis will be on the key issues of business skills, environmental sustainability and herd health, with increased interaction between individual farmers and facilitators in order to customise information exchange.

The Green Low-Carbon Agri-Environment Scheme (GLAS) in the RDP will benefit sheep farmers and they will continue to be significant beneficiaries from the Areas of Natural Constraints (ANC) scheme. Also, a series of capital investment schemes are being introduced under the TAMS II scheme, several of which will provide for sheep farmers.

As far as live exports are concerned, my Department continues to play its part in facilitating live exports of sheep while ensuring that all the necessary veterinary conditions set by the EU are satisfied. Ireland has a healthy live export trade that operates to a high standard and a significant infrastructural capacity of exports points, vehicles and vessels available, allied to a significant number of experienced live exporters, to facilitate the live export trade.

The recently launched Food Wise 2025 report acknowledges the importance of the sheep sector and notes that growth in the sector will come from improved technical efficiencies, as well as growth opportunities from an increase in consumer demand and export market opportunities. On the export front, my Department continues to search for new markets in consultation with the meat industry, and in cooperation with Bord Bia and the Irish Embassies abroad. For example during my visit to China leading a Trade Mission in November 2014, I was able to hand over the completed version of a sheep questionnaire which we had been asked to complete in connection with our efforts to gain access to the Chinese market for shee pmeat. This represents the first milestone on the road which will lead, I hope, to Ireland gaining access to the Chinese market for sheep meat in the future. I also raised the issue of access with my US counterpart Tom Vilsack when we last met in February of this year and progress here depends on the lifting by the US of its ban on sheep meat from the EU.