I welcome the movement and commitment to deal with bovine TB and the huge problem it is throughout the length and breadth of the country. A lot of family farms are locked up and there is a whole crisis around that. I gave an example last week, or maybe earlier this week, of a farmer who had written to me. He had seven cattle who went down with TB. The compensation was based on 2023 prices, so he was only able to buy four replacements for those seven cattle with the money he got. That is a big problem for a lot of the farmers out there, in that the level of compensation they get is not able to match their loss because they have to go to the mart the next week or the following week and buy cattle to replace what they have lost. The way prices are at the moment, they cannot afford to do it. We can talk about the level of compensation and all of that but unless farmers are getting equal, like-for-like compensation, they are having serious problems. That is one of the biggest worries people have, namely, that when they have reactors in their herds and get the compensation, the compensation is not able to replace what they have lost. That is the one point I wanted to raise with the Minister and is something that really needs to be dealt with.
Sentiment score: -0.20
Compensation has to be key.
Sentiment score: 0.00
I will ask one short supplementary question in that regard. One of the key problems with Mercosur is that we are bringing product into Europe that does not meet the same standards as European farmers have to meet, and are happy to meet because of the high quality of the product we have in this country. Is it true that, as part of the deal, the European Union will pay Mercosur countries quite large sums of money, which would normally go to farmers in Europe, to bring their farm produce up to the standards of the European farmers? Is something happening in that respect behind the scenes to try to ensure that the product coming from the Mercosur countries will meet the standards? The other issue I want to raise relates to the inspections that will take place. How and when will they happen? Will the European authorities have inspectors in the Mercosur countries? Will they be checking the product before it leaves those countries? Will it be checked on farms or in abattoirs when it comes to beef and chicken? We need detail in respect of that.
Sentiment score: 0.18
I will not.
Sentiment score: 0.00