What is at stake here is fundamental, and that is trust. It is trust that our food is safe, that our high standards are upheld and that those at the top are bound by the same rules as those at the bottom. This trust and leadership is earned. We need to know that the State's own agency to promote and develop the Irish food industry has the best interests of the Irish people at heart, is 100% beside Irish farmers and stands with them, and will not throw Irish farmers under the bus as soon as there is extra profit to be made. As long as the current chair stays, we cannot have such confidence. It is hard to see why the Minister has not acted already. Bord Bia is not just another agency. It is the voice of Ireland on the world stage, carrying the hopes of rural communities and family farms, and the ambitions of exporters. It is not credible to have a State agency demanding the highest production standards from Irish farmers while at the same time its chair is importing substandard beef from Brazil. Those are double standards and a two-tier system. Why am I not surprised? We heard the concern over Mercosur and Brazilian beef. This controversy has raged for two weeks and still the Government has not done what is required. How little it has done is astonishing. Does the Minister think that farmers are being a little too emotional? Is the IFA in Kerry being too emotional? Are farm families in Kerry too emotional? An bhfuil daoine cosúil le John Joe Mac Gearailt ón INHFA ró-mhothúchánach? What about the people in Gortatlea Mart? Are they too emotional? The people of Kerry are watching. The people of Ireland are watching. Does the Government stand with farmers? Do its members call on the Minister, Deputy Heydon, to remove the chair of Bord Bia? Whose side are they on? It is astonishing that the Taoiseach did not even know the powers that he had to remove the chair. It is not good enough. The way the situation has been handled is a mess. It proves the Government is not on the side of Irish farmers. We all know it is not on the side of Irish people. Farmers have made it clear that they are not giving up, leanann siad ar aghaidh, and neither are we.

Sentiment score: 0.06