Beef industry urged to agree on action plan
Enterprise Ireland director, Mike Feeney, told the Irish Co-operative Organisation Society annual conference in Limerick the industry is characterised by a "destructive tension" between the two key stakeholders, producers and processors.
He said if a broad degree of consensus cannot be achieved on how to address the challenges of scale, quality and markets the industry now faces, it will decline in the face of the WTO and growing competition in traditional and EU markets from South America, Australia and New Zealand. Ultimately, if the beef industry is to remain competitive it will have to achieve greater penetration in Britain and the EU with the type of beef product the consumer requires, he said.
