I welcome the farmers from all over the country who are here for this debate. I particularly welcome those from the Offaly branch of the IFA. No amount of verbal or procedural gymnastics that the Government engages in can hide the plain fact of the matter, namely that there is an open, glaring and festering contradiction at the heart of this dispute. There is hypocrisy and there are double standards. Irish farmers and their representative organisations have lost confidence in the chairperson of Bord Bia as a result of his company's role in importing Brazilian beef into Ireland. Larry Murrin continuing as chairperson of Bord Bia undermines public confidence in the organisation. It damages Ireland's reputation as a world leader producing food that adheres to world-class standards - the highest standards in the world, in fact. I am not interested in knee-jerk reactions; I am interested in a solution and in putting an end to this before further damage is caused to our reputation here in Ireland. I am not interested in kangaroo courts or anything else, but the longer this goes on the worse the damage will be. As I stated recently, Offaly IFA members as well as farmers throughout this country are really at a loss to understand how Bord Bia is failing to grasp the untenable nature of chairman Larry Murrin's position. We have another Larry causing problems in the beef sector. Can we just put an end to this now and call on Larry Murrin to resign? That would be the right, the honourable and the respectful thing to do for our farmers. The issue here is not about the volume of beef; it is the blatant contradiction in terms of food standards promotion and the institutional attitude of Bord Bia, which amounts to telling farmers and Irish producers, "Do as we say, not as we do." It is, as I said, the height of hypocrisy. Farmers, the Government and all the agrifood agencies need to be pulling in the one direction. We need unity. A protracted and contentious standoff, particularly where further reputational damage is likely, cannot be allowed to develop. The Government and Bord Bia would do well to heed the lessons that farmers have imposed on the EU recently with respect to Mercosur. The message was very clear that the farmers were not for turning then, and they are certainly not for turning now. Let us sort this out and let us make sure that Larry Murrin resigns and that we put a credible person in Bord Bia to steer the ship quickly.

Sentiment score: -0.07