asked the Minister for Agriculture if he is aware that a large number of workers are losing their jobs in the meat processing industry; and if he will make a statement on the action he is taking to correct the anomalous operation of the Common Agricultural Policy which has led to Irish beef being sent outside the country for processing, with the serious loss of employment for Irish workers.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Meat Processing Industry.
20.
I do not accept that a large number of workers are losing their jobs in the meat processing industry. The difficulties arising for the industry because of MCA anomalies were raised by me on a number of occasions in the Council of Ministers and with the Commissioner for Agriculture, and my Department also pursued them with the Commission at official level. Action to remove the anomalies falls within the competence of the Commission after consulting the Management Committee, and during the course of the recent price-fixing negotiations I obtained assurances that a change in the MCA coefficient for chilled boneless beef would be made immediately by the Commission and that they would undertake without delay a review of all the relevant coefficients. The change in the chilled boneless beef coefficient has, in fact, already been made, the level being increased from 2.17 to 2.60. This will ensure that the export of such beef will now be as profitable as the export of carcase beef and should help to create further employment opportunities in the processing industry.
Is the Minister aware that the people in the processing industry do not accept what he says: that because of the improvement he has secured in the coefficients it is now as profitable to export cuts and so on as it is to export in carcase form? Is it not a fact that a change in the coefficients does not apply to frozen meats, to the processors who are involved in the portion food business and it does not apply to canned meats? Those are the areas where all the big employment is in boning out. I was amazed to hear the Minister say he is not aware of the fact that a lot of people have lost their employment. He should have a word with his colleague, the Minister for Fisheries, and with Deputy Nolan in relation to this.
Question No. 21.
Can the Minister give the House information that might give these people some hope and confidence in the future of the meat processing industry because never before did we export meat to Kent to get it processed. There must be something seriously wrong.
The coefficients which were recently changed had obtained for at least three years.
That is right.
And consequently led to a situation in which the only boning-out going on in Irish factories was boning-out for intervention. That situation has changed. Deputy Clinton's second contention is that the Fresh Meat Exporters' Society are still not satisfied that the coefficient I secured during our negotiations in Brussels will bring about a condition of equilibrium in export profitability. This simply is not so. It depends in the final analysis on the carcase yield produced in our factories. The commonly accepted yield, carcase against boneless, in the European context is 75 per cent. The Fresh Meat Exporters' Society say that our yield is 70 per cent but most members, I think, readily agree that 72 per cent or so would be nearer the mark. Now, at that level, 72 per cent carcase yield, the balance is actually in favour of boning-out. The reality in boning-out is that it is now somewhat more profitable to bone out.
On the question of frozen meat, the Fresh Meat Exporters' Society made a detailed submission to the Commission in Brussels. Indeed, I think they went over themselves to see officials of the Commission and, as far as I know, there was no mention—good, bad or indifferent—by the Fresh Meat Exporters' Society of the frozen beef coefficient at all. There has been mention by the Department of Agriculture. We have the undertaking from the European Commission that the coefficients for frozen beef will also be reviewed.
The question of canned meat is a different and very difficult category. Here we have a situation in the absence of MCAs where quite definitely our trade with the British market is seriously impaired because of the imbalances between the level of our green £ devaluation and the British green £ situation. On the other hand, in the case of exports to hard currency countries, SNAKE countries, the opposite situation exists. I would think, in the absence of the application of the MCA system to canned meat products, our main marketing effort should be in the hard currency countries. We are still continuing to seek for a solution of the canned meat situation with regard to the United Kingdom market. I have invited the trade to put up any possible solutions to this very difficult problem. So far they have come up with no solution that I am aware of. I and my Department have made a couple of attempts with certain propositions in relation to the position but they were unacceptable.
Does the Minister not agree he has lost a lot of his leverage, so to speak, and bargaining power in settling he price package without having this sort of arrangement included? I am sure he is aware that in December 1976, when Frozen Foods were in trouble and a number of other processing industries were also in trouble, we got the same sort of promise and it was not until the price fixing time came and I refused absolutely to settle that they agreed to have the MCAs applied to processed products. Is the Minister confident now that he will find a solution to the outstanding problems here because it is very important from the point of view of added value and jobs generally that there should be an early solution? Is he satisfied there will be an early solution because of the fact that he has lost this leverage?
I have lost this in the same way as I lost the export of lambs to the French market earlier this year. At that time Deputy Clinton was loud in his protestations about the detrimental effect of the arrangements.
We are not talking about lambs now.
Order.
This is just sour grapes on the part of Deputy Clinton, which surprises me somewhat.
There are no sour grapes. We are trying to get some hope of job creation.
Order.
The reality is that for the first time in four years the Irish meat trade is now in a position to bone out meat for the commercial market again. Until the new arrangements were made the only boning that was happening was boning-out to intervention. That situation has ended.
For the first time in the history of the State we are sending meat to Kent to get it processed.
May I ask just one supplementary?
No. We have spent ten minutes on one question. This cannot be tolerated. Question No. 21.