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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 16 Oct 1996

Vol. 470 No. 2

Adjournment Debate. - Selective Ban on Beef Exports.

I am pleased to have the opportunity to raise the recent announcement by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry that he has agreed to a ban on the sale of beef from Counties Cork, Tipperary and Monaghan. What is the scientific basis for the Minister's decision, the greatest blunder since Mr. Douglas Hogg's infamous statement to the House of Commons?

This country has promoted Irish beef as a single standard quality product, capable of export to every destination and continent worldwide. However, following the Minister's decision, meat from Counties Cork, Tipperary and Monaghan is to be avoided.

The Minister is not listening to the Deputy.

This will have dreadful consequences for the economy, beef and specifically the unfortunate farmers in those three counties. What will An Bord Bia and the Irish marketers do now in seeking to sell and promote Irish beef? Can it be said that it is safe to eat? Can it be said that some of it is safe to consume? Can it be said that one will be fine if one avoids beef from particular parts of the country?

What did the Minister have in mind when he took this decision? As President of the Council of Agricultural Ministers, the Minister could have telephoned the Taoiseach, who is the current President of the Council, about this calamitous matter which will have ruinous consequences in the economy and asked him to contact the authorities in Moscow or to travel there. Surely there is more to the European Presidency than banquets, photocalls and opportunities to embellish halos?

The Deputy knows much about that.

This matter calls for statesmanship. The stops must be pulled out in favour of the country and the national interest. When Sainsbury and Tesco say they want a similar agreement for their consumers, to which they would in effect be entitled, will the Minister tell them that we have given it to the Russians, but that we cannot give it to them? Why does the Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry leak the figures for BSE throughout the country? A map of Ireland was printed in today's Irish Independent with the number of BSE outbreaks listed for every county. That is grossly irresponsible and could only have come from the Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry. We have spent years promoting the image of Irish beef and the Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry is trying to ruin it.

(Interruptions.)

Order. Deputy Sheehan, if you cannot listen to what the Deputy in possession has to say, there is a way out. There are many exits in this Chamber and you had better take one before you are ordered to do so. There is a strict time limit to this debate and it must not be eroded by any Member.

Thank you for maintaining decorum in the House, a Cheann Comhairle, as you regularly do, but particularly in the case of this important debate. It is important that people at least listen to what the Opposition says on this matter. I want to give a very short period of the time left to me to Deputy Leonard.

Is that agreed? Agreed. Time is running out, Deputy Walsh.

Mr. Willie Dillon in today's Irish Independent put it very well. He said that no matter how he tries to put a gloss on it, the Minister's decision will have disastrous implications for beef producers in Ireland. It is a bit late in the day to do so, but I call on the Minister to seek to reverse this particularly bad decision.

I will be brief. I reiterate what Deputy Walsh said about the selective system where Monaghan, Tipperary and Cork are selected for a ban. While barley, wheat, sugarbeet and so on are grown in other counties, three quarters of farmers in County Monaghan are solely dependent on cattle production and they are being victimised. On what scientific basis did the Minister agree to a ban on beef which included County Monaghan but excluded his own constituency although there is a higher incidence of BSE in Wexford than in Monaghan? Wexford is a grain growing county, where farmers have alternatives. This is an utter disgrace and it deserves an explanation on the basis of fair play.

I have been very anxious to arrange a comprehensive debate on this matter at the earliest possible date in Government time. Arrangements have been agreed between the Whips to make time for a detailed discussion on this at 1.30 p.m. tomorrow, 17 October, so Deputies will have an adequate opportunity to air their views.

I was faced with a situation where Dr. Avilov, the chief veterinary officer in Russia, who had been given full powers to make a determination on whether there would be a ban on Irish beef, had personally recommended on two occasions in the last two months the imposition of such a ban. Through political pressure we got that reversed. He was here from 7 to 12 October and visited our ports, our laboratories, our rendering plants, all the different facets of the beef industry. He presented us with a draft Protocol last Friday evening, 11 October.

I indicated to him, as I had indicated to the Iranians, that I was not prepared to sign the agreement on the basis of regionalisation. He made it absolutely clear that he had no difficulty with that but that the consequence would be a direct ban on all Irish beef in Russia effective from 1 November. I inquired from my officials as to the consequences of that ban and whether they were convinced that this would happen. They advised me that with 100,000 tonnes of beef or 300,000 animals having no market, safety net intervention would be a likelihood.

People have complained to me that 82p per lb is not a viable price. From 1 November I was faced with the prospect that not only farmers in Tipperary, Cork and Monaghan, but every beef farmer in the country, would be faced with a £50 per head drop in prices, a drop of 5p in the prevailing rate down to 78p per lb. I want to avoid that situation. In hindsight — this can only be judged in hindsight — this is a temporary hiccup, because I have a review clause in this agreement. I am going to Russia in a couple of weeks to negotiate on the basis of 23 counties in and three counties out as opposed to 26 out and none in, which would be much more difficult. The figures will determine which counties are in or out.

In the detailed stages of the negotiation the Russians wanted a ban on seven counties. The additional counties were Limerick, Donegal, Longford and Wexford. If the Russians had decided to ban Wexford at the end of the negotiations, I would have taken the same decision, because it was in the national interest, and I would say that in my own constituency.

Russia accounts for 26 per cent of our exports. Some 74 per cent of our exports are accounted for within Europe, and go to France, Britain, Germany, Holland, Italy and Spain. We are also selling to Egypt and Algeria. The ban on Saudi Arabia was lifted on Tuesday of this week. Like any branding scheme, the beef from those three counties can go to intervention. It can go to everywhere except Russia and there are no restrictions. Regionalisation was sought because, four years ago, the French made a regional agreement Protocol with Iran which was renewed recently. They told us we have the second highest level of BSE in the Union, we have a higher rate of BSE than France, and asked us why they should accept a less stringent deal from Ireland than they accepted from France, which volunteered this agreement.

What concerns me most is not the Russians or the safety of beef in these counties, but the hysterical overreaction, the momentum of which will be to advertise to the world that there is a serious question mark over this beef where there is no scientific basis for it. I hope the opportunism of the Opposition will not get in the way of the best interests of beef farmers from those counties.

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