Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said the Government cannot do anything about the price of beef, as farmers protested about getting better prices for cattle.
Speaking this morning as farmers protested across Dublin, he said there were some things the Government controls and some things it does not and beef prices was one of those.
He said the price of beef was set by the market and the price in Ireland was similar to the European average.
Mr Varadkar said the only thing the Government could do was put in place income supports for farmers, which he said had already been done.
He said €120m had gone to beef farmers this year to help their income and he said the Government was making efforts to open new markets around the world for beef farmers.
The Taoiseach said he understood the anger that farmers have about beef prices being so low for such a long time.
He said Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed was engaging with farmers. However, Mr Varadkar said there was no clear leadership so it was difficult to engage with the protesters.
The protest, which caused major disruption as tractors were used to block a number of streets, ended this afternoon.
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Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation Heather Humphreys appealed to protesting farmers to engage in dialogue with Minister Creed through the Beef Forum.
Speaking at a jobs announcement in Athlone, Ms Humphreys said she understood the difficulties being experienced by farmers but said the Government had put in €100m of aid already this year.
She said she was pleased that Minister Creed engaged with farmers this morning.
The President of the Irish Farmer's Association called on the Minister of Agriculture and beef factories to ensure that farmers "get their fair share from the marketplace and that increases around Europe are reflected here."
Speaking on RTÉ's Six One, Joe Healy said the demonstration by farmers was "borne out of frustration."
He said the price index shows that there is "clearly room for a price increase".
The President of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA) said farming is the "economic driving force" behind rural Ireland.
Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, Pat McCormack said that while the association was not involved in the protest, he can "fully understand and comprehend the frustration that is out there".
He said farmers feel aggrieved, and that over the last two weeks in particular there has been a lot of "media bashing" of farming families.
"The reality of it is, they are the economic driving force behind rural Ireland. We sat down and met with the organisers of this group and our executive board made a conscious decision not to attend the protests. It's our firm belief in the ICMSA that for progress to be made, we need to be sitting around the table".
Mr McCormack said the Beef Task Force is a "critical component" and is the "ultimate driving force" that was agreed on during the beef talks.
He said farming families feel that "getting a price they got 30 years ago" is insufficient, and that markets around Europe are recovering but Irish beef farmers "are not seeing the benefit of that".
He added that the issue is "not going to be resolved on the streets" and that the Beef Task Force "needs to get up and running".
