Coveney to push Hogan on getting fair beef prices

Simon Coveney, the agriculture minister, has signalled that he will push Ireland’s incoming European commissioner, Phil Hogan, to help frustrated farmers here get fair prices for their beef.

Mr Coveney outlined how the Government is battling with retailers and beef processors in the North to try and get a fairer labelling system for beef coming from the South of Ireland.

His comments came as TDs in the Dáil asked what was being done to ease the beef crisis.

Mr Coveney outlined how beef producers here are only receiving 20% of the end price for beef in shops, compared to 30% in previous years.

Beef producers here need to form a collective group, he said.

Fianna Fáil agriculture spokesman Éamon Ó Cuív asked whether Mr Coveney would pursue fair prices for beef with Mr Hogan, the former environment minister who has been nominated as the next agriculture commissioner.

“In line with the commitment in the Lisbon treaty that farmers are entitled to a fair price, will the minister be taking up the issue with the incoming commissioner, who he knows fairly well?” Mr Ó Cuív asked.

Mr Coveney agreed: “I accept that more must be done and that it must be done collectively as the European Union because, were Ireland to try to do this on its own, it simply would make itself totally price-uncompetitive.”

Mr Coveney said he had written to three large UK retailers with Ireland’s concerns about beef prices for farmers here.

Farmers are concerned about current low prices and the fact labels in UK shops do not clearly specify the product is Irish.

Mr Coveney will meet with his Northern counterpart on the matter this week.

However, he indicated that it was ultimately up to processors in the North to decide how to label beef products and it was not a political matter.

Elsewhere, he also said efforts are under way to reduce the amount of money farmers have been asked to pay back to the European Commission for overpayments in what are being termed ‘land eligibility penalties’.

The commission was seeking to disallow €180m for payments to Irish farmers over the last five years, he stated.

Farmers must exclude ineligible features such as roads, buildings, farm yards, and dense scrub when declaring for payments from Europe.

Mr Coveney told Independent TD Tom Fleming he would not put any farmer out of business but landholders would need to pay some funds back, even if repayments were spread over a number of years.