2026-05-14

112. Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the steps his Department is taking to reverse the decline in volume of beef exports to the EU and the UK; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35477/26]

I want to ask the Minister about the declining volume of beef exports, particularly to the UK and the EU, over the past 12 to 18 months and the impact it is having on the sector. It is very clear that many farmers out there are not producing to the same level they had been. We also have the situation in regard to the Mercosur countries when it comes to beef, particularly. There is talk of banning beef from Brazil coming into the European Union as of September. That should happen now, not in September. I would like to get the Minister's remarks on that.

Ireland exported almost 458,000 metric tonnes of beef in 2025. It is an absolutely colossal figure when we think of the scale of the industry and what it is worth to our overall economy. Although the volume of exports was lower than in recent years, the total value of primary beef exports increased by €542 million, or 17%, to reach a record €3.6 billion, according to the Central Statistics Office, CSO. Whereas volumes to the UK were 6% lower in 2025 compared to 2024, the value of those shipments grew by more than €274 million, or 19%. Similarly, the value of consignments to other EU markets increased substantially by almost €313 million or 21% in 2025, while volumes recorded a modest 2% decline relative to 2024. The UK accounted for 46% of Irish beef exports by value and 42% by volume. Other international markets accounted for 11% of export volume but 5% of total value. Food Vision 2030, the industry-led strategy for the agrifood sector, aims to increase the value of agrifood products, including beef. The ambition is to build on sustainable value growth by supporting agrifood exports and continuing to develop market opportunities at home and abroad. The figures clearly indicate the success of Food Vision 2030 in achieving that. I have ensured that farmers can continue to improve the competitiveness and productivity of their suckler, dairy beef and mixed enterprises through a record level of national and EU co-funded supports. I am providing over €83 million in direct targeted supports for the suckler sector in 2026. In addition to the ongoing suckler carbon efficiency programme, which is worth over €51 annually to participants, the national dairy beef weighing scheme is currently open for applications and the 2026 beef welfare scheme will open in mid-August. The dairy weighing scheme, which supported 18,300 farmers last year, has a budget of €4 million in 2026. The beef welfare scheme, which supported 24,500 farmers last year, has a budget of €28 million in 2026.

I appreciate that the value of products has gone up because prices have gone up. The price that is returned for beef internationally, particularly for higher quality product, has increased over the past number of years. That is because of a reduction in the number of cattle across Europe and many other parts of the world. It is creating that buoyancy in the market. The reality from an Irish perspective is that the amount of beef we produce has actually gone down. We need to look at that. I am not saying why that is. I do not know what the situation is or where we are at here. In the lamb market, we see a similar thing. I have met with people and I know the Minister has met them as well, namely, young farmers who want to get into lamb. Even the factories are asking what the future is going to be because production is going down. We need to be looking at how we are going to maintain that level of production. The other point I want to get a view from the Minister on is in regard to the beef that is coming into the European Union from Brazil. Some 100,000 tonnes of product was imported, most of it beef, in the last year from Brazil. If the European Union is saying there is a problem with it, why are we waiting until September to do something about it? When it came to implementing the Mercosur trade agreement, they were able to do it provisionally immediately rather than wait. Why do we have to wait for this?

I welcome the removal of Brazil from the list of approved countries. It is a result of the pressure that my colleagues on the Council of Ministers and I have been bringing to bear. In January, we had a meeting with Commissioner Šefčovič, the Commissioner for trade, Commissioner Hansen, the Commissioner for agriculture, and Commissioner Várhelyi, who is responsible for animal health and welfare. We made it very clear to them, and we have always said, that the sanitary and phytosanitary, SPS, food safety standards of beef coming into Europe are non-negotiable. The challenges around Mercosur were environmental in terms of our difficulties with the agreement. From the perspective of food safety, antimicrobial resistance and so on, that is non-negotiable in Europe. We saw products being found and recalled. We now see this move being made, which is very important and I strongly support.

Why wait until September?

The removal from the list has been done straight away. That is how that process works. It is a clear indication to the Brazilians that the standards of they have been bringing in, and that we have highlighted in terms of our concern with them, are not acceptable here. Product being found here that has traces of antibiotics and beyond is not acceptable to us and will not be into the future.

I thank the Minister. I understand that and appreciate there is work being done by an awful lot of people across the European Union from the Government here and other governments in Europe, as well as farm and consumer organisations, to look at all of this and to recognise that the product that has been coming in from Brazil is way below standard. The big problem with it all is traceability. There is no traceability whatsoever in Brazil when it comes to the production of beef. A person can buy antibiotics or hormones across the counter and administer them to the animals and there is no traceability as to what they have had. It is open season. I know there have been suggestions that beef is going to come in from particular factories or farms that comply with European standards. The problem is that there is no way of judging or guaranteeing it. I welcome the European Union accepting that point and removing Brazil from the list. However, I understand that product is still going to come in from Brazil until September. That is a problem that needs to be dealt with. We really need to accept that Irish farming is under pressure and beef production is absolutely vital to the Irish rural economy.

On the Deputy's question regarding the decline in the volume of beef exports to the EU and the UK, there are a few parts to this. It is a dynamic situation. Farmers vote with their feet in terms of the workload and the return they are getting for that work. Some of them change enterprises because they will get a better return for that. The increase in beef prices last year will make some farmers who had stepped back look at beef production again. I am determined to ensure that the good beef price, which increased last year, remains high for them so that they can continue to do that. The UK will always be a really important market to us. Almost 50% of our beef goes to the UK. Europe, our nearest neighbours after that, is obviously a key market as well. We have worked really hard in my Department to open new markets in third countries, with a particular focus on south-east Asia and beyond. The Deputy dismissed somewhat the early figures I highlighted showing the increase in the value of the return on that, but that is real for farmers because we have pursued the higher value markets. We do not want to be fighting with Brazilian beef on commodity markets around the world, and 90% of our beef that is exported is not. We go for the higher value markets because of our traceability and our Origin Green quality assurance scheme, which farmers and food processors have bought into. That is delivering the real return here and will continue to do so into the future.