Live Exports
Dail Éireann — 2026-03-19
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Michael Fitzmaurice (II), Roscommon-Galway

I thank the Minister's Department for getting the health certs done in each country. I am not debating whatsoever what other countries do, and I agree with him that other countries set this down. However, the fact is that other countries in Europe have brought in funds to help with exporting. The Minister will be aware that in some of those countries, first, you have to quarantine and, second, you have to do either PCR tests or vaccines. A vaccine, no matter how you go, is €15.
The Minister knows as well as I do that we need a live export trade. In fairness to the live exporters, they go out and source the market. It is not Bord Bia that does it for them. They source those markets themselves. They do not have the same representation as the likes of the meat factories would have abroad. The Minister will have seen over recent weeks, especially since Christmas, the way the factories look at the charts in the league of meat prices throughout Europe. We are at the bottom now and the factories are basically taking advantage.
We need live exports. I know the Minister is in favour of them but, as regards the extra cost, no one saw this coming. Yes, exporters have to pay for boats and everything else, but these are new costs put on top of them. Would the Minister consider a fund?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-03-19/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:45+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-19