Beef crisis a disgrace for the Government

Sir — There is something very wrong with the beef industry here. It is high time our Government wakes up to this fact and, pardon the pun, grabs the bull by the horns.

The farming community has always been the backbone of this country and is not being treated fairly. We all need to stand together and demand that our politicians take action. There is no reason why Dail Eireann cannot give time to try to resolve this serious problem, let it be a Saturday or Sunday or both. They should address this crisis from top to bottom and find out who gains most — starting with the cattle market, right through the process which ends on the butcher’s block.

Farmers breed and feed the cattle over a couple of years, then find out that not only do they have no profit but more likely a loss... this must not go on any longer. Perhaps the Government could possibly create a national beef processing plant that would be free of the ducking and diving that appears to be happening.

Politicians know there could be a general election soon, and one can only imagine the response they will get when they knock at farmers’ doors.

This Government disgraces itself in allowing farmers be reduced to beggars.

But this Government is a strange one. It was difficult recently to watch a minister in his shirt sleeves pointing to a weather forecast map, warning us of storms that might never happen. I thought we had Met Office experts who are more than capable of keeping us informed. James J Heslin, Keenagh, Co Longford