I move: That Dáil Éireann: notes: — that Bord Bia's mission statement is to bring Ireland's outstanding food, drink and horticulture to the world, thus enabling growth and sustainability of producers; — the importance of Irish food and drink exports to the Irish economy; — the importance of Ireland's reputation around the world as a food producer; — that the Irish food and drinks industry is dependent on Irish farmers as the primary producer; and — the animal health and welfare standards that Irish farmers must adhere to, and in particular the standards and conditions that are part of Bord Bia's Sustainable Quality Assurance Scheme; further notes that: — 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; and — continuing as Chairperson undermines public confidence in Bord Bia, and damages Ireland's reputation as a world leader producing food that adheres to the highest standards; and calls on the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to use his powers under section 18 (1) of the An Bord Bia Act, 1994 to remove from office a member of the Board, with immediate effect. I wish to share my time with colleagues.
Sentiment score: 0.76
We are back here again, unfortunately. I first want to welcome all the farmers in the Visitors Gallery, who represent thousands of farmers around the country, and who are not "emotional", but are extremely angry about this situation. Bord Bia has done amazing work promoting Irish food, Irish drink and Irish horticulture around the world, and it has played an important role in increasing Irish exports to record volumes. The value of Irish food, drink and horticulture is estimated to hit €21 billion for 2025. We recognise the role of Bord Bia, its important work and the importance of the trade missions it is engaged in. The problem we have is that the Government and the chairperson of Bord Bia, Larry Murrin, are failing to recognise the importance of Irish farmers and the value of the work they are doing to bring this world-class product to market. Without Irish farmers, the primary producers, there would be no Bord Bia and no world-class produce to go to market. Bord Bia operates the quality assurance scheme, with thousands of farmers participating in it and complying with the very demanding standards. I want to go through some of those standards. As I said to somebody today, a child being raised in this country does not need to have the same level of records as a calf needs to have in the Bord Bia records. That is astonishing, but it is the reality. Everything they eat has to be recorded. Every vaccine medication they get has to be recorded, and those records have to be kept for inspection. There are records of all animal movements. Does the animal have a health plan? Does it have a health safety statement? Does the farmyard have a layout plan? Has it had Bord Bia inspections every 18 months, as well as complete surveys and audits? The level of record-keeping and paperwork is enormous. Irish farmers comply with these rules and conditions in order to maintain Ireland's reputation as a world-leading food producer. It is no wonder, then, that farmers are angry when they hear that the chairperson of Bord Bia, Larry Murrin, is importing possibly contaminated Brazilian beef into the supply of his own company in this country. He claims that it is only 1% of the beef he uses, and that may be so, but we all know that Brazilian beef is produced at about 1% of the standards that Irish farmers must comply with. It is blatantly double standards from Larry Murrin, and shows arrogance towards Irish farmers. I wrote to Dawn Farm Foods in the last couple of weeks to ask if it was one of the three companies that imported Brazilian beef last September that was recalled because it contained banned hormones. I also asked the Minister this on a number of occasions. It replied to the question, but it did not answer the question. We do not know what the three companies are. We do not know if Dawn Farm Foods is one of them. I believe the longer that Larry Murrin remains in his position as chairperson of Bord Bia, the more damage that will be done to the organisation and, unfortunately, to Ireland's reputation. The Government amendment to our motion states that the majority of the board agreed to support the chairman to continue in his office. I believe this is not an accurate reflection of the board meeting where the IFA and the ICMSA proposed removing Larry Murrin as chairperson. There was no vote. It was stated that it was up to the Minister for agriculture to remove the chairperson of Bord Bia. Comments by the Minister for agriculture and other members of the Government that farm organisations are to blame for this controversy, and the description of farmers as getting "emotional" over the issue, are far from helpful. It is condescending, to say the least. The IFA is not to blame for this, nor is any other farm organisation. They are not the ones importing Brazilian beef. Their job is to represent Irish farmers, and that is what they are doing. Irish farmers have a right to protest when they feel they are being let down. Irish farmers have been let down by the Minister for agriculture, the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste, and not for the first time. They put up no opposition to the Mercosur trade agreement, and had to be dragged kicking and screaming to vote “No” at the last minute. Then, only half of the Government MEPs voted to send the Mercosur trade agreement to the European Court of Justice. Now, the Government and the Minister for agriculture are deciding to take the side of big business, protecting the well-connected rather than standing up for Irish farmers. The message from Irish farmers is clear: we do not have confidence in Larry Murrin, and we want to restore confidence in Bord Bia. It is the Minister's job to remove him. Larry Murrin must go, and the Minister must do his job.
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The motion was put down beforehand.
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The Minister is so disingenuous. He is something else.
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The Minister knows this motion was put down last week before that happened. The Minister knows that.
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Honest debate seems to be gone, just like an honest chairman.
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The Minister of State said "South America" there.
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You are a waffler.
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Yes.
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Ah now.
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Two days before, the Taoiseach said we would vote for it.
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Deal with the issue.
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Seriously.
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We are talking about the chair of Bord Bia.
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Ha ha.
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We are talking about the chair of Bord Bia.
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We are dealing with Bord Bia. Come back to the issue.
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Seriously.
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There is no dispute on this issue. This man imported Brazilian beef. Was he wrong?
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Double standards.
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It is not an opportunity, for God's sake.
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So do we.
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No, we will go to the issue so.
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That is a bit patronising.
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Brazilian beef is central to the Irish market, is it?
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Farmers set the standards. Farmers are paying the price.
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There is.
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The Government is the problem.
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Did he not-----
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So, Larry Murrin did not import Brazilian beef.
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It is one or the other. He either imported it or he did not.
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Bord Bia.
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This has been a heated debate, and that is fine. We debate matters robustly in order to make progress, so let us make a little of progress. There are a couple of things that are not disputed. Beef from Brazil has a lot of problems. The system in Brazil is different. The Irish Government opposed the Mercosur deal. We can debate whether it was as wholehearted in doing so as we would have liked, but it did oppose the deal because it recognised - and we take its word for this - that the beef coming from Brazil does not meet the standards that European consumers should expect. There is no dispute about that. The head of Bord Bia imported Brazilian beef that does not meet these standards. That is not in dispute either. He is not coming here tomorrow to tell us whether or not he imported Brazilian beef. We know he did so. We know he has used it as part of his contingency planning, as the Minister outlined. If the contingency planning for the marketing of Irish beef is to mix Brazilian beef in with it, then the Government needs to start being honest with Irish farmers. Is that what the Minister is saying? The Minister seems to have said that we are not listening to the common-sense explanation as to why some Brazilian beef would have to be used in order to gain access to particular markets. That is a dangerous Rubicon to cross. That is the reality. There is a red line that Larry Murrin has crossed. As the chair of Bord Bia, the organisation charged with marketing Irish food, drink and horticulture of the finest quality to which the quality assurance mark is attached and with whose standards Irish farmers have to comply, it is unacceptable that he would also run a company that is buying, processing and selling Brazilian beef, which is possibly contaminated, mixed with Irish beef. If the Minister does not understand the huge impact of this when it comes to the farmers of this country and to consumers across Europe and around the world, he does not understand the issue we are dealing with. We on this side of the House are not looking for a head or trying to make political capital; we are looking at reality. The reality is that the person in charge of marketing Irish food cannot also be selling-----
Sentiment score: 0.03
The Minister knows this motion was submitted last week, before the committee's decision was made for Larry Murrin to come in. The vote on this motion will not be held until next week. There will be a full week after we hear from Larry Murrin tomorrow to digest what he says, ask further questions and deal with this issue. The Minister and his backbenchers, many of whom, including from his party, have told me privately that they are extremely unhappy with the position the Minister has taken, have a week to decide what way they will vote. I am confident that if they are true to themselves and to the farmers of the country, they will vote to ensure that Larry Murrin is removed from his position.
Sentiment score: 0.14