Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 25 Jun 1998

Vol. 493 No. 2

Adjournment Debate. - Pigmeat Sector.

Cecilia Keaveney

Thank you, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle, for giving me the opportunity to raise this important issue and I thank Deputy Brendan Smith for sharing his time with me.

The people of Donegal learned with great shock last Saturday of the fire in Lovell and Christmas in Ballymoney. Since that was the largest slaughtering facility in Ireland, catering for 5,000 pigs from the Republic, it is a serious loss not only to Donegal but to the Republic. Some 1,500 animals per week were brought to that plant from Donegal. Without that facility pig producers are experiencing grave difficulties. I hope the Minister will be in a position to address this matter in the near future.

While I would say rather flippantly that there were two recent incidents in England where pigs escaped from slaughterhouses, there are serious repercussions for pig producers here. Some 85 per cent of pigs produced in Donegal went into the plant in Ballymoney. There is a possibility that McCarren's plant in Cavan, which had a killing capacity of 8,000 animals per week, will be reopened. There is such a facility, Western Meats, in Dromad and Dromone Meats in Oldcastle has a killing capacity of 3,000 animals per week. There are difficulties, however, with the export plant status.

The red tape should be cut in terms of getting those facilities up and running. There are huge cost implications involved for pig producers in Donegal who have to bring their animals to other facilities. There are difficulties in that the cost of producing pigs is high when compared to the price paid by factories. I could outline at length the difficulties faced by pig producers, but the most immediate consideration is to get facilities up and running to address the day to day problem. I hope the Minister will have good news, if not today, in the near future. There is an opportunity for job creation in this area.

Mr. B. Smith

I wish to share my time with Deputy Crawford.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

Is that agreed? Agreed.

Mr. B. Smith

I am glad to have the opportunity to make a short contribution on the serious difficulties facing pig producers. The problems are of particular relevance in my county where pig farming constitutes a major segment of the farming industry. On other occasions in this House I highlighted the absolute need to ensure pig production is not confined to largescale units. Every measure must be taken to ensure small pig producing units are maintained and that the smallscale producer is protected. Successive Governments have given insufficient attention to ensure pig production is not confined to largescale units. For the future well-being of the industry, the smallscale producer must be protected. A mix of pig slaughtering facilities, large and small, is needed. It would be detrimental to the industry to have a small number of largescale slaughtering plants.

A number of problems contribute to the present crisis facing pig producers. Can the Department counteract the effects of the importation of six to seven containers of processed product to this country each week? The difficulties with the Japanese currency have cut off the market for the heavy pig product. An immediate problem arose this week because of the fire at Lovell and Christmas. There is now a major oversupply of live pigs to all slaughtering plants, with not enough market outlets for pigmeat.

McCarren's bacon curers in Cavan closed in early 1996 after trading successfully since 1860. McCarren and Company provided very valuable employment for generations of families in County Cavan and those skilled employees processed product to the highest standard. The difficulties encountered at that plant since 1996 have, thankfully, been resolved and I hope the plant will reopen at an early date. The opening of that facility would be most beneficial, not only to the employees but to pig producers in the region. I appeal to the Department to ensure the necessary veterinary and departmental personnel are assigned to that plant as quickly as possible to facilitate its earliest possible reopening.

The Minister must consider a number of measures to help the pig producing industry. Prices at farm level should be monitored by an independent body. Now is the time to forego all levies until the crisis eases. The Government should increase the VAT repayment rate to be paid directly to farmers. This is a time for action when one considers that the market realisable value of the pig has dropped by £4 in the past week. There is an 8 per cent oversupply in the European Union. Irish producers have increased the supply in line with the An Bord Bia target. The price paid to producers has dropped by 25 per cent in the past 18 months whereas the retail price has risen by 8.7 per cent. The pig producer and the farmer are the sufferers in this case.

Mr. Crawford

I thank my colleague from Cavan, Deputy Brendan Smith, for giving me the opportunity to speak on this important issue which he and Deputy Keaveney raised. Deputy McGinley would have liked to speak if time had permitted but we realise it was not possible. The situation is very serious but it is nobody's fault. As Deputy Smith said, successive Governments have failed to recognise the fact that no slaughtering facilities to speak of are available in the Border region. We beg the Minister to ensure existing facilities are put into operation immediately. The Minister, the Department and An Bord Bia must do whatever they can to alleviate the crisis which will result in the industry. As Deputy Smith said, prices have already fallen significantly and more so in the Border region. We should work on a cross-party basis to ensure pig farmers in the Border regions survive.

Dr. McDaid

The Minister thanks Deputies Smith, Keaveney, Crawford and McGinley for bringing this matter to his attention. Coming from a Border county as well, it is also a matter of concern to me. In 1996 two pig slaughtering plants closed in the Cavan-Monaghan area when management took a commercial decision to cease operations in both cases. The two plants concerned were McCarrens of Cavan and Dawn Pork and Bacon, Coolshannagh, County Monaghan, which between them were slaughtering 9, 000 pigs per week.

Since that time, there has been no reduction in slaughtering capacity in the pigmeat industry south of the Border. In fact, some EU approved slaughtering plants have come into production taking back some of the capacity lost in 1996. Information given to the Department of Agriculture and Food from its veterinary officers based at EU approved plants indicates that delays may sometimes occur, but they are attributable, in most cases, to plant machinery breaking down or suppliers bringing pigs for slaughter outside of the allocated delivery time. Slaughterings at EU approved pigmeat plants in 1997 amounted to 2.76 million head, an increase of nearly 7 per cent over the 1996 figure. The industry was able to cope with this increase without any difficulty.

Towards the end of last year allegations were made in the press that there was a lack of slaughtering capacity at pigmeat plants. The Department of Agriculture and Food at the time carried out a survey of EU approved pigmeat slaughtering plants and found that the level of slaughterings, which I already said were running about 7 per cent higher than in 1996, were adequately catered for. There was spare capacity. Similar independent surveys carried out around the same time by both Forbairt and the Irish Association of Pigmeat Processors, confirmed the Department's findings that current slaughtering capacity at EU approved pigmeat plants is adequate to meet demands.

In recent days, a fire destroyed a large pigmeat slaughtering plant in Northern Ireland, which was sourcing some of its supplies south of the Border. So far there is no indication that this will cause difficulties for slaughtering plants in the South. There are a number of other large slaughtering plants in Northern Ireland which may intervene and increase slaughterings but, as I already indicated, there is spare capacity in the South, which will be capable of dealing with increased slaughterings if necessary.

The closure of McCarrens and Dawn Pork and Bacon in 1996 has, however, meant that the north and the north-east parts of the country do not have a slaughtering plant. The area has a very long tradition in pig production and producers in some cases have to send their pigs long distances to the factory.

The Minister for Agriculture and Food fully recognises that this is not an ideal situation and his Department, in liaison with Forbairt, has made all its resources available to try to encourage a resumption of operations at the plants concerned. Regrettably, Dawn Pork and Bacon will not reopen. As far as McCarrens is concerned, the position is not clear. Some discussions between McCarrens management and Forbairt have taken place in the past, but with no positive outcome. The door remains open to McCarrens if it wishes to discuss resumption of operations of the plant, but the final decision on re-opening rests with management which must make a commercial decision in that regard. It is not open to the Minister for Agriculture and Food to intervene directly in the matter. The Minister is encouraged, however, by the fact that a long standing industrial relations dispute with the unions at the McCarrens plant has recently been resolved.

Under current EU rules, it is not possible for member states to give direct national aid to assist the setting up of slaughtering facilities in the pigmeat sector. I assure the Deputies, however, that the Minister for Agriculture and Food will continue to monitor the situation and will keep in contact with Forbairt about its efforts to restore the processing capacity in the Border region to a satisfactory level. Ultimately, however, the setting up of new slaughtering facilities, or the resumption of operations at existing ones, rests in the commercial field.