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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 5 Dec 2000

Vol. 527 No. 3

Priority Questions. - Beef Industry.

David Stanton

Ceist:

37 Mr. Stanton asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development the action he will take or has taken to restore confidence in the beef industry. [28712/00]

A number of issues including the higher number of BSE cases in France and the recent confirmation of cases in Spain and Germany, have seriously affected consumer confidence in these and other countries. This situation has been exacerbated by unilateral action taken by a number of member states and most recently, the Egyptian authorities have decided to temporarily suspend imports from EU countries pending a clarification of the situation in Europe.

The problem has been tackled on three fronts. First, the Minister has endeavoured along with colleagues in the Agriculture Council, to restore consumer confidence in beef. Second, he has placed a strong emphasis on ensuring that appropriate market measures are put in place in order to alleviate the impact on producers. Third, we are endeavouring to ensure that all markets remain open to Irish beef.

On the first point, he has endeavoured to secure the adoption of an EU wide approach to the BSE problem with a view to putting in place effective control measures which will prevent the spread of the disease and provide maximum protection to the consumer. The decisions taken in the Council yesterday should make a considerable contribution to the achievement of these objectives. The measures adopted are: a temporary ban on feeding of meat and bonemeal to all farm animals; animals over 30 months can go into the food chain only if tested; a "purchase for destruction" scheme to remove from the food chain all cattle over 30 months which have not yet been tested for BSE.

I welcome these decisions and believe that, combined with the decision taken last month to require all cattle over 30 months of age to be tested for BSE with effect from 1 July 2001, they will provide an improved framework for protecting human health and restoring confidence in beef.

So far as market support measures are concerned, I welcome the conclusion of the Council that it is essential to introduce intervention and I am confident an effective and meaningful intervention arrangement which can provide the basis for resumption of orderly marketing will be put in place at the meeting of the beef management committee meeting on 12 December 2000. The "purchase for destruction" scheme should also make a substantial contribution to improving market balance in the sector. The Commission has also given a commitment to the Council to examine the consequence of the current crisis of the producers and to report back to the Council with any appropriate proposals. The Council has undertaken to act on any such proposals as a matter of urgency. The Commission has also agreed to increase the advances of the beef premiums from 60% to 80% in order to ease the financial pressure on beef producers.

Additional InformationThe Commission has already increased export refunds and introduced a private storage aid scheme for cows in order to provide additional support to the market. Export refunds have been increased by 15% in the case of male live cattle and beef and by 130% in the case of female beef. These changes are worth 5p per lb in the case of male beef and 9p per lb in the case of female beef and should significantly improve the competitiveness of our exporters on third country markets. A private storage scheme for cow beef has been introduced with effect from 27 November and will run until 2 February 2001. I have urged the beef processing sector to make maximum use of the scheme so that its full benefits will be available to Irish farmers who wish to sell cows over the coming months.

With regard to export markets, my Department, our embassies abroad and Bord Bia have been very active in recent weeks in reassuring our customers in our major markets about the safety of Irish beef, the limited incidents of the disease in Ireland and the controls which have been put in place over the years ensure maximum protection of the consumer. The Government has at the highest level made every effort to ensure the Egyptian market remains open.

In this context I cannot over emphasise the importance of the Egyptian market for Irish beef. For this reason, the Government takes very seriously the recent action by Egypt to suspend the issue of import licensees to Western European countries, including Ireland. The reason they have taken this decision is to allow them to take account of the developments within the EU related to BSE and to assess the measures and decisions being taken to deal with this situation. The developments to which I refer relate to the situation in certain other member states and not to Ireland's situation.

The Government has taken immediate action to deal with the situation in Egypt. To begin with, our Ambassador in Cairo has been in contact with the authorities there and has outlined the facts of our situation in relation to BSE. Senior officials of my Department will travel to Egypt at the weekend for meetings with senior Egyptian officials. Ireland has an extremely positive case to make on BSE and these officials ensure that the Egyptian authorities were made fully aware of the controls we have in place.

The Minister, Deputy Walsh, has spoken to the Deputy Prime Minister and Agriculture Minister Dr. Wali and has impressed upon him the importance of the market, the quality and safety controls in place in Ireland and the guarantees which can be given to consumers of Irish beef. He will also meet him to brief him on the range of measures which will be put in place within the EU to deal with BSE which I believe will help restore consumer confidence and eliminate much of the confusion which has arisen out of the recent BSE scares.

What immediate action does the Government propose to take to protect the liveli hood of farmers who are suffering, given that prices have fallen dramatically in recent times?

The Government is acutely aware of the difficulties facing beef farmers. So far as market support measures are concerned, at the Council meeting yesterday, the question of intervention was discussed as well as a pricing instruction mechanism which it is intended to be put in place at the beef management committee meeting on 12 December 2000. The compensation procedures for the "purchase for destruction" scheme will also be put in place at the beef management committee meeting.

The Minister and his officials are on their way to Cairo to renegotiate with the Egyptian authorities and to convince them of the importance of that market for Irish farmers and the Irish economy. We wish him every success.

Will the Government introduce a £100 animal slaughter premium, as requested by the farmers?

All issues in the beef industry, including the difficulties and the financial problems facing Irish farmers are under review. There are no commitments and no promises but the industry is being monitored on a daily basis.

With reference to the recent controls with regard to meat and bonemeal, what sanctions are in place for somebody in breach of those controls?

I do not have a copy of the sanctions with me, but I can provide a copy for the Deputy. There are sanctions in place. It is illegal for anyone to feed meat and bonemeal to ruminant animals. As the Deputy is aware there have been prosecutions in that area. There are strict controls in place. I undertake to get a copy of the rules and procedures for the Deputy.

With regard to the beef industry, which Minister of State is responsible for food standards?

We are moving away from the subject matter of the question.

It has to do with confidence in the beef industry. Who is responsible for food standards?

Responsibility for food is delegated to me under ministerial directive approved by the Government. I have been closely monitoring and working with the beef industry for the past three and a half years. I have travelled to practically all of Europe and to some third countries. During that period the Department has put in place a traceability system. We have spent in the region of £60 million putting in place that traceability and monitoring system. We have spent a substantial amount of money on promotion through An Bord Bia in terms of subsidising and assisting that area. I should not use the word "subsidising", but a substantial amount has been spent in the area of promotion.

Up to last week or the week before, we won back markets in places like France to which our exports were down to practically zero – our exports are back up to 50,000 tonnes. We developed a new market in Italy to which we export more than 20,000 tonnes. We have two new markets in Holland to which we export 14,000 tonnes. These are approximate figures, as I did not expect I would be answering this question. We export approximately 14,000 tonnes to Sweden and we also have other small outlets. Our total beef exports are in the region of 500,000 tonnes. The Deputies can work out the figures – I am not 100 miles out on the figures I have given.

That concludes priority questions.

May I make a brief point of order?

As long as it is a point of order.

Yes, Sir, and I hope you will agree it is a point of order. So far in priority questions today both Ministers of State have had to be pulled up in their tracks because their responses went over the limit laid down in our rules of procedure. Perhaps the Leas-Cheann Comhairle will use his good offices to ensure those who prepare the briefs in Departments will be asked to prepare less wordy briefs for their Ministers to ensure we can have some real discussion. In both cases today the Ministers have had to leave out substantial parts of their responses that do not appear on the record until after we have had the discussion here and we cannot come back to deal with them. It might be vain to do this, but I ask the Ministers of State and Ministers to take more care with their responses – if they ever look at them before they come into this House – to make sure they comply with the rules of the House.

The Chair will undertake to convey the Deputy's views to the Departments. As he knows, there has been a precedent since the introduction of questions under the new arrangements that where the Minister's reply exceeds two minutes, the remainder of the reply will be included in the Official Report, nevertheless, I will bring his point to the attention of all the Departments.

Thank you, Sir. I am aware of the precedent and I am deeply grateful to the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for his offer of using his good offices.

The Deputy is very welcome.

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