The issue of cattle prices is a matter for direct negotiation between beef producers and individual beef processors and it would be inappropriate for me to intervene in the current dispute.
My function in relation to cattle prices is to set the policy parameters and support framework and to seek by every political and diplomatic initiative to secure access to markets. I am satisfied that I have fully discharged these functions and I will continue to do so into the future. In relation to markets, no effort will be spared until Irish beef has full and unrestricted access to all of our traditional export markets and in that context a number of important decisions have been taken in recent weeks.
I am concerned that the dispute could lead to the build-up of cattle and disrupt supplies to our major markets and that would not be in the interests of producers or processors. In view of this, I have already called on the two sides to seek to find a solution to the dispute through the well established lines of communication which exist between farmers and processors.