Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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569. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason determined by his Department for the large discrepancy in prices secured by beef farmers from processors in this State compared to those in British markets; if he will conduct research into this matter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14542/20]

Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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The Irish beef sector is export oriented, with up to 90% of production exported. Almost half of Irish beef by volume is exported to the UK market.

The price paid for cattle is a matter for suppliers and sellers.

Demand and supply, currency valuation, transport and processing costs, national consumer preferences for domestic product and other external factors such as COVID, the relative price of alternative protein sources and the strength of the economy, are all factors that feed into determining the price of cattle and other agrifood products.

In line with a recommendation in the Beef Stakeholder Agreement reached last September, Bord Bia now publishes a detailed weekly "Beef Market Tracking" update which presents data on a range of indicators in an accessible format. This includes price comparisons, a comparison of Irish composite prices (for all product, and for prime cattle) with an 'export benchmark price', which reflects the relative importance of key markets for Irish beef; an index of wholesale and retail prices; and a by-product market indicator.

This analysis is available at: