Over the past number of weeks, beef farmers have been holding public meetings in west Cork and Kerry, which have been attended by hundreds of people who are trying to see if they can save their livelihoods. Prices for cattle have collapsed and many are working at a loss that they cannot allow to continue.

Hundreds of these farmers are angered and frustrated. As they see it, at the very mention of Brexit two years ago, factories took full advantage, prices have been dropping since and no one has said, "Stop".

We have to urgently look at other markets. If we do not, the beef farmers will face the worst crisis they have ever seen. The Iranian market is a significant option, with encouraging signs that it wants Irish beef, lamb, chicken and turkey. We face one stumbling block to a strong export market to Iran. Other strong exporting European countries have embassies in Tehran; Ireland has not. The Iranian ambassador has said that is a major stumbling block for Iran. Will the Government open an embassy in Tehran even if it initially operates with a skeleton staff? It would open Irish beef and other agricultural foodstuffs to more than 400 million people.

As the Deputy knows, we have opened the markets to China and Japan. The European Union has just signed a trade deal with Japan so new opportunities and markets are being opened to Irish beef all the time.

At the moment, we do not have plans to reopen the embassy in Tehran. This year, we will open embassies and consulates in Mumbai, Los Angeles, Oman, Santiago, Bogotá, Vancouver and quite a few more.

There are 480 million people in Iran who need beef.

I am sure An Bord Bia will be able to use those resources to promote all of our products, including food products.

The prices are dropping.