Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue has said he would be open to the possibility of an all-Ireland protected geographic indication (PGI) for ‘Irish Grass-Fed Beef’.

However, the minster highlighted that this would only be possible if there was a grass-fed verification system in place in Northern Ireland.

In answer to a parliamentary question from Sinn Féin TD Matt Carthy, Minister McConalogue said: “As the competent authority [over the PGI status application], my department must be satisfied…that there is a verification system in place to ensure that, if successful, the PGI is protected and that the claims made in a PGI application are verifiable.

The draft application for a PGI for ‘Irish Grass-Fed Beef’ provides that the control systems already in place for the Bord Bia Quality Assurance schemes and Grass Fed Standard will be used to carry out the verification.

“In the case of Northern Ireland, there is currently no equivalent verification system in place to verify that qualifying cattle are grass-fed,” the minister said.

He continued: “My department and Bord Bia have discussed the draft application with Northern Ireland counterparts, and I have discussed it with my counterpart Minister [Edwin] Poots also.

“I have recently advised Minister Poots that, when the final application is being submitted, I will inform the European Commission that Ireland would support the PGI being extended on an all-island basis, when a grass-fed verification system is in place in Northern Ireland,” Minister McConalogue said.

Beef Finishers Payment

In other beef sector news, the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) is the latest farm organisation to call for “immediate” payouts under the €50 million Beef Finisher Payment (BFP) scheme.

IFA National Livestock Committee chairman Brendan Golden said the payment should be made by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue “without delay”.

“At our meeting of the Livestock Committee this week, we heard numerous calls for the immediate payout under the scheme. The closing date was in September and farmers who incurred losses earlier this year have cash-flow pressures,” he said.