In view of the higher employment and added value derived from the export of beef, it is important that the majority of cattle produced in Ireland should be slaughtered and processed in the country in order to provide maximum benefit to the national economy. For that reason, it is important to ensure that EU supports, including export refunds, do not provide any disincentive which would militate against the achievement of that aim.
With regard to the slaughter premium, the position is that this premium is payable only in Ireland and on a very small number of steers in Germany and Denmark. While an improved premium would be beneficial to the Irish beef industry it would be extremely difficult to persuade the Commission or other member states to accept such a proposal in view of the fact that the premium is largely confined to Ireland and, at its present level, has been effective in greatly helping to overcome the impact of seasonality for the Irish slaughtering sector.