Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 25 January 2018
180. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views on the return pig farmers are receiving for their produce from processors,with farmers being paid below the cost of production. [3884/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am keenly aware of how resilient pig farmers have been in recent years and in their ability to sustain their businesses in an often volatile price environment.
Price volatility is an ongoing challenge for the sector and developments over the last couple of years simply serve to emphasise the cyclical nature of prices in the industry. Following a particularly tough 2015 prices hit a five-year low early in 2016 before embarking on an upward trajectory which saw prices reach a three-year high during July 2017.
While prices across the EU have slipped back somewhat recently - primarily driven by a fall in demand from China - my Department has made a particular effort to support market diversification for the sector over recent years. The importance of this is well illustrated by the dramatic expansion in Ireland’s pigmeat exports to Asia, and to China in particular, in recent years. And of course the uncertainty around Brexit lends an even greater importance to trade promotion in international markets.
In June 2017 I visited Mexico, now the fourth largest global importer of chilled and frozen pork. With Mexican demand for pork continuing to grow I have made gaining access to that market a priority. I also travelled to Japan and South Korea last autumn where I promoted the development of further opportunities for Irish producers in these jurisdictions as I want to continue to diversify the range markets to which Ireland has access.
With Irish production up almost 1% in 2017 and export value increasing some 14% to an estimated €712m I have every hope that we can continue to work with the sector and continue to take advantage of international market opportunities for Irish pigmeat.
