Both sides involved in the beef factories dispute should use the fortnight cessation to build up trust, the Fine Gael spokesman on agriculture said yesterday.
Mr Billy Timmins said it was important that trust be established between the farmers and the meat factories to ensure the industry could move forward on the best footing.
Mr Timmins's statement came as the Irish Farmers Association said the price of cattle under 30 months had risen during the past week, and prices of €2.38/kg (85p/lb) for R grade cattle were freely available at a number of factories.
The IFA president, Mr John Dillon, suspended the five-week dispute with the factories last weekend as a gesture of goodwill as prices for younger cattle began to rise.
Cattle prices normally increase at this time of year because of the demand for beef in the run up to Christmas.
Most insiders believe the IFA will not, despite threats, reactivate the dispute because it did not have widespread support within the organisation.
Mr Dillon did claim that the dispute, involving protests at specific meat plants which closed for periods of up to three days, had saved beef farmers €6 million which they would have lost had the challenge not being mounted.
The factories, on the other hand, said the international market-place will continue to determine cattle prices, and they will negotiate with farmer/suppliers on a local basis but not as a centralised group.