Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 June 2014
414. Deputy Noel Grealish asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason all beef factories quote the same price with no price difference between them; the reason one company is allowed to have control of over 90% of the rendering industry, which means no competition and results in price decreases passed on for animals to the farmers from factories; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26916/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraThere are a number of sources of information on the beef industry that are publically available, including animal births, prices, slaughter figures, carcase classification and farm income. Some of this information comes from my Department and others from different State agencies.
Within the publications on my Department’s website under the beef pricewatch heading, there is a wealth of information available to farmers, including the prices for Steers, Cows, Heifers and Young Bulls across the classification grid, for each DAFM approved factory. This data shows unequivocally that different factories are paying different prices to farmers for their cattle. I have also committed, as an outcome of the beef round-table discussions, to making this existing information even more user friendly and my Department is currently working on developing a Beef pricewatch app. This data should further inform farmers on where they could achieve the best prices.
My Department approves and supervises the operation of rendering plants under the terms of the EU Animal By-Products (ABP) Regulation (EC) 1069/2009. Such plants are approved to handle different classes of ABP, with Category 3 being low risk material and Category 1 being higher risk. There are 5 Category 3 and 5 Category 1 approved plants in the State at present.
With the exception of fallen animals collected and disposed of under the TSE Subsidy Scheme, which my Department operates to facilitate testing of over 48 month bovines as required by EU legislation, the rendering of material from meat plants and of fallen animal material is a matter for commercial arrangement between the parties. While my Department supervises the operation of such plants to ensure compliance with EU rules on Animal by-products, it has no role in relation to their ownership or commercial operations.
If the Deputy has information regarding anti-competitive practices, I would suggest that this information be addressed directly to the Competition Authority, which is the appropriate body to investigate such matters.
