Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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379. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the results of the recent beef forum meeting; the steps he will take to address the growing gulf between meat factories and farmers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1042/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The last meeting of the Beef Roundtable took place on the 16 of December 2015. I established the Beef Roundtable in April 2014 in order to bring all relevant stakeholders together and to facilitate open discussion between industry, farming organisations and others on the strategic path forward for the beef sector. The Forum has met on seven occasions, and has been a useful vehicle for engagement for all those involved in the sector.

At December’s meeting I updated the attendees on the progress made on legislating for Producer Organisations in the Beef Sector. My Department is now in the final stages of drafting the SI, taking into account some of the views expressed at the round table. I am hopeful that I will be in a position to sign into law this legislation before the end of January. Along with the Statutory Instrument and application form, my Department will also publish guidelines for groups applying for recognition.

The Forum also received presentations from Bord Bia on the market outlook for the sector and from Animal Health Ireland on its plans for initiatives in beef health. Teagasc also provided an update on the publication of its production blueprints for farmers since the previous meeting of the Roundtable.

I also used the Roundtable to update on significant strategic issues, including developments in Paris COP21 on climate change, and developments in relation to international trade agreements such as Mercosur and TTIP.

I have already made it clear that t he forum is not a substitute for the market and that it does not obviate the need for continuing, frequent and open engagement between processors and suppliers on market issues. There were discussions on certain aspects of customer specifications for beef on which there continues to be some disagreement and I urged the parties to remain in contact to try and resolve these market issues.

My role as Minister in relation to the beef sector is to create a policy and support environment that allows it to flourish in line with standard market principles. In this context, I am guided by the long-term sectoral development strategies set out in Food Wise 2025 and am confident that these initiatives, in conjunction with the Rural Development Programme, will lead to continued growth in terms of profitability and efficiency of the sector as whole. The forum has been a vital tool for facilitating constructive engagement between all of the relevant stakeholders in pursuit of these objectives.