Beef industry ignores 1998 report's grim forecast and overcapacity worsens

WHEN Enterprise Ireland produced its hefty report on the state of the beef industry in 1998 the findings were pretty stark.

Words like catastrophic and grim peppered the report, which cost about 700,000 euro and which was compiled by international consultant McKinsey.

Back then, the sector comprised 39 meat plants and the number of companies involved was 16.