Michael Naughton, Roscommon

“Joining the beef welfare scheme is hardly worth it, when you have the calves tagged, BVD samples taken and now you have to IBR test.

“At the end of the day the farmer isn’t going to have anything out of it after they have the vets paid. Help is needed for these measures. It is scarce and expensive.

“Letting Brazilian beef into this country isn’t right.

"They haven’t got the traceability or regulations like we have, so who’s to know what kind of meat it is.”

Tom Jordan, Carlow

“All these schemes, it’s crazy. I had sucklers a few years ago, I got out of them. There’s too much work in it.

“They’re doing away with the good stock. It’s all only dairy stock coming now and that’s not good at all. The good beef, that’s gone very dear.

“Brazilian beef export growth is a big harm to us. That shouldn’t be allowed at all. It doesn’t make much sense to me that we have to cut back and they’re increasing.”

Peter Egan, Roscommon

“This IBR testing is just another pull on labour that can’t be got.

“I think allowing Brazilian beef in is a disgrace. The Government shouldn’t be allowing it. It is going to affect beef production here in Ireland.

“The price of beef is already affected by imports and this is going to cause more damage. People that have cattle fit to go are being told to ring back again another day.”

Billy Reaney, ?Roscommon

“I wouldn’t join the beef welfare scheme. It wouldn’t pay you to go in. We kill our own cattle and it’s getting harder now. We won’t even mention the price. You have to take what you get.

“I’m in my 70s and it’s awful hard on young people. My son has an interest but its only for the love of it that he might stay in sucklers. If we weren’t in it, there wouldn’t be any hope of him or any young person to go into suckler farming.”

Padraig Fanning, Roscommon

“The increase in Brazilian beef into Ireland is not good for the beef man here and there’s no traceability in it.

“The prices of beef are currently back from what they were. Bringing in the beef is going to put more pressure on the trade and factories will use this to their advantage, naturally enough.

“If suckler farmers are pushed out it will absolutely affect me because these good continental cattle won’t be here.

“The cattle coming out of milking herds are no good for what I’m at anyway.”