The position of Larry Murrin as chairman of Bord Bia is untenable. The revelations surrounding his company's importation of substandard Brazilian beef into Ireland are an insult to Irish farmers and have created a crisis of confidence within Bord Bia. The farmers I speak to in my constituency have totally lost confidence in the chairman and they are also beginning to lose total confidence in the Government through the Minister's handling of this fiasco. This is fundamentally about the double standards that are now on show. Through Bord Bia Irish farmers must meet the strictest food production standards while at the same time the organisation's chairman is importing Brazilian beef into Ireland. There is also the image of an organisation whose whole remit is to promote the quality of Irish food around the world yet its chairman is importing foreign beef into Ireland. How could anybody stand over this situation? How can the Minister seriously believe this does not damage the image of Bord Bia and undermine its work? When this issue was raised last week the Minister decided against taking action to hold Mr. Murrin to account and instead chose to lay the blame for this controversy with Irish farmers and farming organisations. The Minister told them they were being "emotional". This was absolutely insulting. It shows that the Government seems to be totally indifferent to the views of farmers, the very same people who produce the food and on whom the success of Bord Bia is built. The Government has allowed this situation to drag on for weeks now. Its failure to act has damaged further the reputation of Bord Bia. This comes at a time when the Irish Government has failed to block the Mercosur trade agreement. Given the recent outbreaks of bluetongue, and with the future of CAP at stake, this is the very last thing the farming sector needs to be dealing with right now. Yet, the Minister comes in here tonight and tell us that everything is all right and there is nothing to see here. Whether the Minister likes it or not, the farmers do not have confidence in Larry Murrin's position as the chairman. We have brought this motion before the Dáil tonight to bring an end to this fiasco. The Minister appointed Larry Murrin to this position and the Minister can also remove him from it. The message from farmers is loud and clear: Larry Murrin must go. The Minister, Deputy Heydon, must use his powers to put an end to this mess and restore confidence in this organisation.

Sentiment score: -0.10