Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 9 March 2017
15. Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views on whether the prices being received by Irish farmers are not reflective of the quality of produce (details supplied); and his further views on whether the marketing of Irish meat is placing sufficient emphasis on the unique quality of the produce in a European Union context. [12339/17]
View answerMost meat produced in Ireland is exported. Exporters and Bord Bia are engaged on an ongoing basis in identifying market opportunities and building market relationships based on the high quality of quality assured and sustainably produced Irish beef and sheepmeat. As export markets may have a local preference orientation, it is impressive that Irish beef was exported to 84 export markets in 2016.
Prices paid for R3 steers by Irish meat plants during the week ending the 25th of February averaged €3.72/kg excluding VAT. This compared with an average price of €4.17/kg for R3 steers in the UK and an average price of €3.75/kg paid for R3 young bulls around continental Europe. The British price in Sterling terms has fallen consecutively each week of 2017. The current Irish cattle price has been largely stable since the beginning of 2017 while cattle supplies have been increasing. The most recently available data show that weekly throughput at Irish export premises reached almost 36,000, its highest level for this time of year for over ten years.
In the lamb sector, reported prices at Irish meat plants averaged €4.61/kg excluding VAT for the week ending the 25th of February. This represents a 12% decline on this time last year, when hogget prices averaged €5.26/kg. It is below the levels of 2015 and 2016 but on a par with 2014 and previous years and an improvement on January and February. To-date in 2017, Irish sheep supplies have risen by 15%, or 53,000 head.
For pigmeat, the latest reported price for week ending the 25th of February was €1.60/kg excluding VAT, a 17% recovery on equivalent 2016 levels. This is largely driven by growing demand for frozen pork and offal products in China and a fall in production there. The medium-term outlook for the sector is optimistic .
Supplies have tightened somewhat in recent weeks, and UK prices have also recovered somewhat.
Irish beef exports in 2016 reached 535,000 tonnes in 2016, the highest level in more than a decade and were valued at €2.38 billion. Overall exports of Irish meat and livestock were valued at €3.66 billion. This represented one third of total food and drink exports. Both Irish pigmeat and sheepmeat exports increased in 2016, by four per cent to €615m and €240m respectively.
Winning customers in global markets is achieved by demonstrating the quality of our produce and the Bord Bia Quality Assurance Scheme and Origin Green initiative are critically important in this endeavour. Irish beef is purchased by the largest three UK retailers, arguably the most valuable market of scale. Beef exports to Germany have almost trebled in value over the past five years. The membership of the Bord Bia Chef's Irish Beef Club attests to the high reputation of Irish beef. Last week Bord Bia welcomed the first member from outside Europe at an event in Dubai. This club which comprises over eighty award winning chefs who are advocates of Irish beef is evident of the premium positioning of our product in export markets.
