There are a number of sources of information on the beef industry that are publically available, including information on animal births, prices, slaughter figures, carcass classification and farm income. Some of this information comes from my Department and other information from other State agencies. With regard to transparency, all information is collected, transmitted and published in accordance with the law and, where necessary, the agreement of the respective farmers and companies concerned.
One of the main aims in convening the recent beef roundtable discussions has been to increase transparency around the beef sector. In this regard, my Department has already made a number of improvements to its website in order to make price information more user friendly for farmers. This is a key step along the road to developing a beef pricewatch app for mobile phones and tablets. The Dowling report presented at the most recent roundtable also calls on processors to ensure that communication with farmers on any changes to market specifications takes account of the normal production cycle. In addition, I am making arrangements to ensure that Teagasc, Bord Bia and the ICBF engage to ensure that advice, education and breeding policy remains consistent with evolving market realities.
Additional information not given on the floor of the House
My Department collects the prices paid for domestic cattle on a weekly basis and reports this data to the European Commission in accordance with Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1249/2008 on the classification of beef, pig and sheep carcasses and the reporting of price and Commission Regulation (EU) No. 148/2014 - amendment to categories and classes for recording of market prices in the beef sector and as regards market price for pig carcasses. This information, together with that of other member states in the European Union, is published on the website of the European Commission's Directorate General for Agriculture and Rural Development.
My Department also publishes beef price information and two reports which are published weekly under the beef pricewatch banner. The first sets out average deadweight prices for cattle, which breaks down by Department-approved factory the average price paid per kilo for steers, cows, heifers and young bulls. This data should be helpful for farmers in ascertaining where they can achieve the best prices. The second report is the meat market report which deals with deadweight and liveweight prices as well as live trade details. The report is reproduced by Bord Bia and made available on its website. While my Department receives weekly kill reports from Department-approved factories, such information is not published as it is commercially sensitive material which cannot be published without the agreement of the factories. Any change to this procedure would have to be discussed with all relevant parties.
In relation to the animal identification and movement system, or AIMS, factory staff notify the movement of animals coming to a slaughter plant to AIMS predominantly by way of a web service application. A small number of factories use an online system or paper system. The factory staff who interact over web services and online only have tag-inquiry access to AIM - to get the tag number of the animal being presented for slaughter - and to a customer search facility to get names and addresses of keepers or herd numbers. Factory staff do not have access to herd profile details on AIMS. My Department publishes an AIMS annual report every year and this is available on the website also.
My Department does not collect farm financial data. However, the Central Statistics Office's agricultural output, input and income report estimates aggregate farm income for Irish agriculture as a whole. This information is published in multiple forms. Teagasc produces a national farm survey which estimates average farm income by farm system - beef, dairy, tillage, etc. - and size, based on a survey of representative farms. The most recent iteration of this survey covers 2013 incomes and was published two weeks ago.
Under Council Regulation 1290/2005, my Department is required to publish on its website certain payment details made to beneficiaries of schemes funded or co-funded by the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund, EAGF, or the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, EAFRD. The information is published exclusively for the purpose of complying with the terms of EU legislation and is not intended for any other purpose.
My Department does not receive or collect any information on inter-trading between meat factories as this is a purely commercial activity carried out between factories and I have no legislative basis or powers to request this data.
