Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 3 November 2020
1560. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if mechanisms are in place through online mart sales to ensure that a number of buyers are not using the one internet protocol address and based at a single location and thereby undermining the auction process; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33861/20]
View answerThere are three providers of platforms for online mart bidding, and these platforms are now in use by the vast majority of marts. These systems have enabled the trade in livestock to continue through Level 5 restrictions. My Department’s role in marts sales relates to animal health and welfare. The Department has no role in approving the online platforms - this is a commercial arrangement between the mart and the online platform. The security of the system is important for the mart to be able to operate.
Marts have been using online mart sales systems since April. From a position where few marts had online systems in place in April, there has been a rapid take up of the new systems by marts over recent months.
My Department is seeing some positive aspects of online sales at marts.
Online sales are reaching a much higher number of farmers, dealers, and agents than sales on marts premises did, even prior to the start of Covid restrictions. Based on the figures produced by the online service providers, the numbers of people logging on to online marts sales on a daily basis are many multiples of the numbers that typically attend marts in person. The majority of marts are reporting good clearance rates and robust prices.
From 19th to 31st October, the cattle throughput in marts came to 88,000 head – this compares to 93,000 head in the corresponding period in 2019. This means that, despite the undoubted disruption caused by moving to Level 5, mart throughput of cattle in this period was 94% of that in 2019. This demonstrates that marts have been able to continue to operate and farmers have been able to continue to buy and sell, thanks to the commitment and resourcefulness of the marts and service providers involved.
My Department's records show that 181 marts sales events took place the week beginning 19th October, with 169 sales events taking place at marts last week. Mart throughput in the June to October 2020 period has been significantly ahead of 2019.
