Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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19. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the extent to which he has studied the recent submissions from the Irish Farmers' Association regarding price competition in the beef sector; the extent to which Irish beef competes on supermarket shelves in the United Kingdom and in other jurisdictions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2303/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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In my role of Minister I am and always have been conscious of the value of communication with all stakeholders in the beef sector. Improving communications between stakeholders is the reason I established the Beef Roundtable which continues to meet and discuss relevant strategic issues affecting the sector. However I have also been very clear that the Roundtable cannot act as a substitute for normal commercial engagement between suppliers and processors and there should always be ongoing continuing engagement between those parties on market issues, including those relating to specification As regards the IFA’s recent submission referred to by the Deputy, I must reiterate that as with any Minister for Agriculture in the EU, I can have no role in influencing commodity prices in Ireland. The State, through the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, has an existing and well-established infrastructure for oversight of competition matters and for dealing with allegations of anti-competitive practices or abuse of a dominant position.

I understand that acquisitions or mergers of organisations with turnover exceeding certain statutory thresholds are required to be notified to that body, who will then initiate an assessment to determine whether there will be any ‘ substantial lessening of competition’. The acquisition referred to in the IFA’s submission will be subject to the relevant statutory requirements under competition law.

As regards the UK, Bord Bia estimates that in 2015 , Ireland exported approximately 272,000 tonnes of beef , worth €1.1b to the UK. Irish beef is listed in three of the major supermarket chains in the UK, Tesco, ASDA and Sainsbury’s. The weakness of the Euro versus sterling ensures that Irish beef remains competitive in Northern Ireland and Britain, and this is reflected in the fact that Ireland remains by far the single biggest exporter of beef to that market. 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.

Further a field, Irish beef exports saw strong growth last year, increasing by 6% to €2.41b compared to €2.28b in 2014. Access to new international export markets including the US, Canada, Oman, the Maldives and Iran was secured by my Department last year and work is currently underway to open the Chinese, South Korean, Vietnamese and Mexican market to Irish beef exports. I am optimistic that we will also soon obtain approval to export manufactured beef to the American market.

We must remain conscious of the fact that Irish beef is currently listed with more than 75 high-end retail chains all across the European Union. This broad portfolio of customers has made a substantial contribution to higher returns for Irish beef in recent years and reflects the success of Bord Bia’s differentiation and premiumisation strategy, which focuses on the key attributes of Irish beef, namely environmental sustainability, grass-based production systems, full traceability, quality assurance at all stages and superior eating quality.