According to the new public register of lobbying activities in which interest groups must declare their contacts with politicians and civil servants, the IFA has used multiple forms of communication including meetings with Department of Agriculture assistant secretary Brendan Gleeson and other officials to discuss controls over beef carcase classification.

Since the registration of such activities began in September, the organisation has been lobbying repeatedly for improved controls, requesting that authorised officers from the Department "be appointed to continuously monitor classification and trim in meat plants".

The ICSA, too, has been pushing this issue in "informal communications" with Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney and six TDs from the majority and opposition benches, "looking to secure permanent staff to monitor grading machines, trim, angle of neck cut and provide for appeals process regarding grades and fat scores".

The lobbying records reflect the long-running lack of trust between farmers' representatives and beef processors on fair grading and pricing. Such permanent presence in factories would require large numbers of department inspectors to cover all slaughterings.