Carol Nolan demands independent beef regulator to stop price injustice

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this very important motion calling for an independent beef regulator to be set up but before I get into the trust of the motion I want to thank my rural independent colleagues for bringing this motion forward this morning which is badly needed. I also want to acknowledge the work and indeed the collaboration from the farming organisations, the various farming organisations who have contacted us all over the last year and a half since the election last year and I want to thank them for their time and indeed their expertise and the discussions that we've had around this issue. I also want to thank staff members David Mullins and Breen O'Donnell who work with the group and I want to commend them for all their hard work that they've put into this motion here today as well. The motion itself is quite focused. Essentially speaking it is about achieving fairness and embedding a commitment to price justice for the beef farmer into statute. There is no other business or no other sector where we would see producers running at a loss. I can say truthfully that in my own constituency I was aware of many beef and suckler farmers who were actually running at a loss. It doesn't seem right and it certainly doesn't seem fair and it's an injustice now that must be corrected. So we're calling on all TDs rural and people outside of rural areas to stand up and support this motion because what it is about is justice and fairness. We don't need any more tokenistic measures. In fact we don't need an ombudsman that's not going to have powers or it's not going to have powers to compel or conduct audits in terms of factories associated with meat industry in Ireland. We need to see real change and the only way we're going to see real change is by putting an independent regulator that has robust powers in place to stop once and for all the scandal that has taken place in this country. We have 70,000 beef and suckler farmers. They contribute greatly to our economy. They are a huge part and indeed I'll go as far as saying the backbone of the rural economy. But they are being treated very, very badly. The primary producer is the one that is not benefiting or not gaining any sort of a profit in in terms of the high quality produce in terms of the high quality produce that we see. And we know that this country has a great tradition in beef and suckler farming. And we know that we have one of the highest quality products in the world. And yet our farmers are not being fairly rewarded for that hard work. And that's what it is. It's a big sacrifice. It's dedication and it's hard work. Farmers in this country are being taken for granted. For granted. And indeed, you know, the whole issue around food security as well. There are issues there too. And our food producers, they deserve fair play. And that's what the motion is here about today. And I would call on all TDs to please support it. There is a need for government. There is a need for government to accept that many small farmers and factory workers are being exploited by some Irish beef processors. And that beef producers are routinely penalised by processors through the targeted operation of stealth and opaque price fixing practices. So they're in a situation where they actually can't win. And that has to change. To address this, we are calling on government government to recognise that the continuing centrality of the beef sector to the rural economy and its role in generating fair farm incomes requires a new and imaginative approach. More importantly, however, we need government to finally accept that existing regulatory and competition protections have proven themselves to be manifestly inadequate with respect to protecting beef and suckler farmers from unfair price distortions, delivering credible levels of industry transparency and, of course, centrally, a just price to the farmer. This weakness in the current levels of protection is something that is already recognised at European level. If it were not, then there would be no need for the introduction of measures like the Unfair Trading Practices Directive. That in itself is a blatant acknowledgement that farmers and those on the producing end of the food chain are routinely exploited. This has gone on for decades. There is no other word for it, but it has to end. If the existing protections were strong enough, or even been enforced, then such directives would be redundant, as they are being ignored with impunity. Farmers in this country are sick to the teeth of the lack of transparency in how prices are set. I know the Minister has commissioned three separate reports from Grant Thornton on this very issue, at a cost of over €120,000. But those reports have been rejected by farmers and indeed bodies like the ICSA and the IFA. The only ones that are happy with them are Meat Industry Ireland. And doesn't that just tell us all we need to know? When Meat Industry Ireland are happy, there is a serious problem. Indeed, in March the IFA forcefully rejected claims by Meat Industry Ireland that beef farmers receive 80% of total sales revenue earned by processors. This was after the independent report by Grant Thornton, which was presented to members of the Beef Task Force. Meat Industry Ireland claimed, and I quote, False assertions were being made and prominently circulated that farmers only get €2 for every €10 spent on beef by a consumer. But as the IFA, the ICSA and others have repeatedly made clear, even Grant Thornton admitted to the Beef Task Force that it does not have the authority to access the information needed for a full and independent appraisal of the value of beef at all points. In the supply chain. And this is exactly the problem, Minister. Other serious deficiencies have been identified by the independent farmers, such as the fact that the processors do not pay for the fifth quarter, despite its value. Processors trim the fat from carcasses and penalise the producer, yet separately they sell the same fat for €200 per tonne. Processors penalise producers if carcasses exceed weight restrictions, yet they keep the excess weight and sell it. Processors do not pay farmers for the slaughtered animal's blood, which has a very significant value for use as a protein source. As part of the disease eradication scheme, significant numbers of cattle are being removed from farms at the expense of the taxpayer, but are being gifted to feedlots to boost their profitability. All of this makes it very clear, Minister, that the meat industry are presenting a front around compliance and transparency, but the reality is that no such price transparency exists. We know it. We know it. We know it. The meat industry knows it. And most of all, and more importantly of all, the farmers know it. But have things changed? They haven't. Because the meat industry in this state has been for some time a de facto cartel and a monopoly of extraordinary power and reach. And that has to change. The protected status of the industry and the inability of farmers and indeed politicians to properly hold it to account must come to an end. I have seen firsthand how difficult it is for new operators to enter the market and I have seen in my own constituency in relation to the proposed Bannerher-Chilling project. In March of this year, I highlighted this issue and said that the fact that there is considerable anger and frustration emerging following the confirmation from onboard Planola that it was not in a position to determine the outcome of an appeal related to the Bannerher meat processing plant. Onboard Planola indicated that they had yet to receive the inspector's report on the appeal, which was due by 1 March. And that this made it impossible for a determination to be made on the case. This latest setback is totally unacceptable and unjustified, particularly as the Board had been due to make a decision back as far as the 4th of January. Now, here we are, several months on, and no progress has been made and certainly no information on where any progress lies or what is going to be done. This fact and this whole inadequate and inefficient operation and inefficiency from onboard Planola only deepens the perception that any attempt to open up the meat market, whether it be in the Midlands, in Offaly, in Tipperary, in Limerick, in Cork or Kerry, will be subject to endless delays and bureaucratic nonsense and obstacles. I have repeatedly made it clear just how important Bannerher chilling could be in terms of stimulating the local rural economy, expanding market competition and making County Offaly attractive as a site which is capable of attracting inward investment. This is inward investment that we so badly need. However, none of that and none of those facts seem to be registering with onboard Planola in the slightest. They seem to be a law unto themselves. They seem to be doing their own thing. At this stage, the entire process is actively working against not only our local interest, but also clear commitments in the Programme for Government, that beef farmers and indeed the beef sector would be supported. That is a clear commitment that is made in the Programme. Moving on, Minister. Less than 10 days ago, you stated that your Department's statutory responsibility in the context of meat plants is merely to approve slaughter plants in accordance with the EU food and feed hygiene regulations. After that, you also said that the Department cannot, in carrying out this process, take into account issues such as the concentration of ownership of inputs to processing as it is outside the scope of this remit. That was a telling admission, Minister. In the sense that there is no more power within your Department to ensure animal welfare than there is with ensuring the economic welfare of farmers who produce the animals. That is also why we are not directing this motion at one Department only, but at the Government. This requires a whole-of-government approach because it touches on issues such as justice, financial exploitation and competition law, as well as agricultural policy. I accept, Minister, that you have made several commitments to transparency, particularly in terms of the establishment of a National Food Ombudsman. But in your remark here last week, you specifically stated that you wanted to see, as such, or I quote, something similar. That something similar is not what we in the Rural Independent Group want. And indeed, Minister McConnell himself, when he was in opposition, called on the Government to ensure that there was an independent regulator put in place. So I do not know what has actually happened, Minister, since that time. It appears that since he went into the Department of Agriculture, he has now come up with a tokenistic measure, which is not good enough. It does not cut it and it is not going to be accepted by farmers because it is not going to have enough power. We want a regulatory body with proper statutory powers capable of compelling audits on meat industry Ireland factories and making enforceable recommendations to that industry. We want a regulatory body that the industry cannot just choose to ignore or engage with as they see fit. The Minister has accepted that the additional powers to be assigned to the new office by primary legislation going forward beyond those in the unfair practices directive, and that they are currently the subject of public consultation, which closes today. We are told that this new office will have a specific role in analysing and reporting on price and market data in Ireland. But this is exactly what the Department and Board BIA already do. So what is to be gained here, apart from it being tokenistic and duplicating and costing the taxpayer? The public consultation seems, yet again, to be more concerned with giving the appearance of action and tokenism, than with actually changing how the structures operate in this state. As the ICSA Beef Chair Edmund Graham has said only last week, the lack of cooperation by some players with the Grant Thornton report on price composition of the total value of the animal along the supply chain is also undermining the Beef Task Force. The obvious conclusion to these actions is the need to establish a regulator, rather than just a food ombudsman with the power to compel all actors along the food chain to cooperate. In fact, the ICSA were right to say that the Grant Thornton report has laid bare the dysfunction within the sector. While the report was looking for where the margins lie along the food chain, it appears that those beyond the primary producer mark want to keep those margins hidden. It is a power imbalance that we in the Rural Independent Group are seeking to address and set right. To that end, I hope that our motion receives cross-party support. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thanks for having me. To see you, our next step up. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Absolutely. Thank you. Thank you. Take me, take you. Thank you. I hope we have another opportunity to bring you time. In your opinion. I hope you will be able to punch me along the way. How many of us all do?