Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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84. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if the disparity in beef prices on supermarket shelves in the United Kingdom to the disadvantage of Irish beef will continue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2692/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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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. I am guided in this context by the long-term sectoral development strategies as set out in Food Wise 2025 and I 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. As with any Minister for Agriculture in the EU, I can have no role in influencing commodity prices in Ireland. I do note however that 2015 was a relatively positive year for beef prices in Ireland with the yearly average nearly 8% higher compared to 2014. The primary determinant of prices in any market is the relationship between supply and demand. Price variations in different EU beef markets reflect prevailing conditions in those markets. With regard to the price differential between Irish and UK cattle, a number of factors have been identified to explain why Irish-born cattle command lower prices than their British equivalents. These include a British consumer preference for indigenous product as well as additional transport and processing costs in supplying that market. Last year, Ireland exported approximately 272,000 tonnes of beef, worth in the region of €1.1 billion to the UK. This constituted 54% of the volume and 52% of the value of Irish beef exports and as such, the UK is overwhelmingly Ireland’s most important export market.

An additional factor in the disparity in prices between Ireland and Britain during last year was a result of the exceptionally strong sterling exchange rates that were in place in 2015 and which are continuing into 2016. It should be noted that in sterling terms, prices paid to British farmers towards the of 2015 were reducing.