2120 final report.pdf - Agra CEAS Consulting

APPENDIX 1: MEMBER STATE REPORTSA1.8. IrelandA1.8.1. OverviewIreland will implement the ban on unenriched cages in line with Chapter II, Art.5.2 of Directive1999/74/EC from 2012. There are 257 registered egg producers 90 in Ireland (2004) and 71 registeredpacking centres, of which there are six main players accounting for approximately three quarters oftotal eggs packed between them. The industry is concentrated in the border areas especially inCounty Monaghan and County Cavan. The only significant trade in shell eggs is with NorthernIreland and the direction and magnitude of this is largely determined by exchange rates, althoughIreland has a modest net import requirement. There is only one Irish processor, Irish Egg Products,and this only produces liquid eggs with all dried egg product demand met through imports.A1.8.2. Egg productionTotal Irish egg production is expected to be around 420 million eggs in 2003 from a laying flock ofapproximately 1.7 million birds 91 . The Irish industry is made up of only 257 registered commercialegg producers (2004), although there were 8,985 producers with laying hens in 2000 92 suggesting thatthere is a significant number of producers with very small flocks. The traditional cage is the mostcommon production system encompassing around three quarters of the laying flock. The mainalternative system is free range with just under a quarter of laying hens and the balance is splitbetween the barn system and organic production. There are no enriched cages in use in Ireland.There is little consumer interest in the barn system 93 as it is considered to fall between the caged andfree range systems offering neither a price advantage or enough perceived animal welfare gain.Ireland has a modest net import requirement met almost entirely from Northern Ireland. Actuallevels of trade are dependent on relative exchange rates, but is roughly equivalent to 20% ofdomestic production, down from around 30% a decade ago.90 In order to be registered a producer must have more than 350 hens or must supply a registered packing centre. The second criteriaallows the capture of smaller organic units.91 This figure is sourced from the Department of Agriculture and represents the returns of 230 of the 257 egg producers. The remainingproducers are not thought to be significant and as a result, this figure is considered a reasonable approximation of the total.92 Source: Central Statistics Office, Census of Agriculture 2000.93 This statement is made on the basis that it is legal to produce eggs in a number of defined systems. Egg producers are assumed to beeconomically rational and to attempt to maximise profits subject to a set of constraints. They will therefore produce eggs in systemswhich result in the highest levels of profitability. Where there is consumer demand and willingness to pay for more expensive eggsproduced in higher cost systems, then egg producers will do so as long as the revenue they achieve is sufficient to result in acceptableprofits. Where demand is high and supply low, consumers will pay higher premiums for such eggs. This will result in a greater number ofproducers entering this market. As they do so, supply increases towards the level of demand and as a result the price will decline.Ultimately an equilibrium is achieved where supply is sufficient to meet demand at a certain price. Where there is little supply of eggs fromalternative systems, in this case the barn system, the implication is that consumers are unwilling to purchase such eggs at a price whichmakes it worthwhile for producers to enter the market. The absence of supply therefore indicates an absence of demand at pricesnecessary to facilitate production. Conversely, where there is a supply of eggs from alternative systems the implication is that at the pricesrequired to facilitate production there is consumer demand and willingness to pay.205