‘Bonuses paid for beef exports may be a breach of competition rules’

Quality bonus payments paid for Irish beef exported to Britain could be a breach of EU fair competition rules, said MEP Seán Kelly.

The South of Ireland MEP expects the EU to investigate the practice whereby meat factories pay a 12c/kg quality bonus, or €40 to €60 per animal. He plans to raise the issue with the European Commission next week.

“Last year, Ireland exported over 250,000 tonnes of beef meat to the UK representing almost 70% of their total imports,” said Mr Kelly.