3 Márta 2014, 15:44
The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine will tomorrow hear from a range of beef industry stakeholders to consider the current crisis in bull beef production.
3 March 2014
Representatives from the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association, the Irish Farmers’ Association and the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association will commence proceedings. This will be followed by engagement with representatives from the Irish Cooperative Organisation Society (ICOS) on how the barriers to the live cattle trade with Northern Ireland can be surmounted.
Concluding the wide-ranging series of discussions, representatives from Ibec’s Meat Industry Ireland will address the Committee on their perspectives on the challenges facing the industry.
Committee Chairman Andrew Doyle says: “Since the end of 2013, factory prices for bull beef have fallen dramatically, placing considerable financial pain on farm families engaged in the sector. As a Committee, we are keen to engage proactively with a wide range of stakeholders tomorrow, including producer and processor representatives, to assess what policy steps are necessary to bolster the industry. Acutely aware of the need to explore all alternatives, the Committee will discuss with ICOS how the obstacles hindering live cattle trade on a North/South basis can be overcome.”
The meeting takes place tomorrow Tuesday 4 March at 2 pm in Committee Room 3, LH 2000 and can be viewed online here.
Committee proceedings can also be viewed on the move, through the Houses of the Oireachtas Smartphone App, available for Apple and Android devices.
ENDS
View Committee Membership.
For further information please contact:
Paul Hand,
Houses of the Oireachtas,
Communications Unit,
Leinster House,
Dublin 2
P: +353 1 618 4484
M: +353 87 694 9926