AMID further outcry from farmers at the weekend about the impact on their incomes from the BSE crisis, a Labour MEP has claimed that consumers were not benefiting from low cattle prices.
Dublin Labour MEP Ms Bernie Malone called for an investigation into why the price of beef in shops and supermarkets has not dropped while cattle prices had tumbled since the BSE crisis.
She said: "I find it inexplicable that the price of most beef cuts has almost remained static in shops while farmers are taking £100 and upwards per head less for cattle going for slaughter.
"Clearly someone is making a huge profit at the consumers' expense and we are entitled to an explanation."
She said one supermarket chain, which was buying beef at 107 pence per pound before the British House of Commons announcement regarding the BSE scare last March, was now buying it for just 3 pence less.
"This represents a reduction of around £18 cash per animal, but the farmer is receiving over £100 less. This is a clear case of the middle man making profit at the expense of the consumer.
Meanwhile, the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association said at the weekend farmers face a £250 million loss this year due to the crisis. It said the EU's proposed £60 million "rescue package" was "totally inadequate."
ICMSA president Mr Frank Allen said EU agriculture ministers, who meet in Luxembourg today, must find a new strategy to deal with the crisis and new markets to cope with the EU's oversupply of cattle.
"At the moment the problems we see emanating from the BSE scare are only the tip of the iceberg," he said. "The real crisis will be seen in the autumn when large numbers of cattle are ready for slaughter."