Vol. 527 No. 3
150 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development if his attention has been drawn to the variance between the sale price given for cattle going to slaughter and the sale of meat through the retail food chain; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28367/00]
Earlier this year an independent group was appointed by the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment to establish, inter alia, why there is such a large differential between the producer price and the prevailing consumer price. The group, which reported in September 2000, found that concerns about price gaps between the pro ducer and consumer were based on simple comparisons between the level and movement of farm-gate prices and retail prices. Such comparisons were inadequate because they did not take full account of the weight losses involved in converting the live animal into saleable beef and they totally ignored cost developments in the post farm-gate sectors of the food chain which account for half the value of the total chain. The independent group concluded that, when these issues were properly considered, the changes in retail prices were fully explained by the combined movement in farm-gate prices and post farm-gate costs.
