Vol. 416 No. 7
13 Mr. Connor asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if he will outline his policy objectives for the beef industry with specific reference to the producer price crisis and continuing reported difficulties in the processing section.
My main policy objective for the beef industry is to ensure that the interests of our primary producers are fully protected and that the processing sector can develop in a way that responds to market requirements. It is within this context that I am tackling the ongoing negotiations at EC level on the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, which will determine the future of the beef sector for some time to come. My aim is to obtain the best possible outcome for our producers by ensuring that the compensatory premia being proposed to offset the reduction in the intervention price are adequate and completely suitable to Irish production conditions and that the industry is encouraged to exploit market opportunities to the full.
While there have been difficulties with producer prices for cattle over recent months, steer prices have held steady since the implementation of revised arrangements on processors margins for beef brought into intervention, which we negotiated at EC level last August. This change, together with our continued reliance on intervention support, combined to prevent a major collapse in market prices.
Since October last some 116,000 tonnes of beef have been accepted for intervention by tender in Ireland which has played a crucial role in supporting prices. I accept that there are continuing problems being experienced by some processors. Nonetheless, producer prices were stabilised and protected throughout the main slaughtering season. As a direct response to this pressure on prices the EC Commission provided for a once-off increase in the suckler cow premium of £15.81 per head last year, which was a welcome boost for producers. I hope that, in line with normal seasonal patterns, prices will remain firm.
However, we must now begin to plan for an industry which can take most of its returns from the market rather than from intervention. This will be a major priority in developing a national programme for the agriculture and food sector.
With regard to the beef industry, in the absence of any agreement on the Common Agricultural Policy reform proposals, does the Minister consider it fair to suggest there will be fairly major cuts in prices? Has any price package been put forward for 1992-93?
The price package proposals are at the negotiating stage. In line with previous years I hope we will reach agreement on those price proposals within the next five or six weeks.
But there are no proposals as yet whereas normally they emerge the preceding December.
Not that I am aware of.
Would the Minister answer the question I asked earlier which I will repeat: has he any intention of initiating discussions with factory owners to ascertain whether it is possible to get them to seek markets other than the intervention line we have been following in recent years in order to protect our few remaining beef producers and their long term interests?
I have already asked senior officials of my Department to meet representatives of the meat factories because I am not at all happy with their performance. I have said so in this House before. I have a figure in front of me which will give Members some indication of the reliance of meat factories on intervention. For example, the percentage of steers slaughtered, eligible for intervention and placed in intervention, is 86.7 per cent.
I got that information yesterday by way of a written reply.
So much for their efforts outside of intervention.
Can the Minister inform the House of his reaction to the MacSharry proposals to reduce the beef intervention ceiling from 800,000 tonnes to 300,000 tonnes in four years? Will he confirm that this is a reduction to which he will not agree in any circumstances?
The Deputy is extending the subject matter of his question.
It was a Presidency proposal which I rejected out of hand, saying it was unacceptable.
Would the Minister not accept that the present state of beef prices here is due entirely to the banks' hold on one or two of our major processors?
There are a number of contributory factors. As I said, I would like to see the factories themselves make some effort to get out into the marketplace and not rely to the extent of 86.7 per cent of steers eligible for intervention being dumped and stored there.
