Conor D McGuinness demands Bord Bia chair resign over beef standards

Sinn Féin is bringing this motion because you, Minister, have allowed this scandal to fester and because Fine Gael in particular has circled the wagons to protect their man instead of standing up for farmers. Larry Murren should have resigned weeks ago. He has not. Instead, he has dug in with the blessing of government, with your blessing, Minister, with the blessing of the Thánaise Simon Harris and the Taoiseach Micheál Martin, and he seems intent to brazen it out. It is two fingers to farmers, to the general public, and to anyone who believes public bodies should operate with integrity. Bord Bia demands the highest standards from Irish farmers. It inspects them, audits them, it penalises them and markets their produce on the basis of stringent quality checks and traceability. Yet, the chair of that organisation imports Brazilian beef producer standards that would be illegal here, Minister. There is no ambiguity in that. We all get the message. Farmers hear it clearly and so does the public. Farmers are angry because they are being undermined. And the public is livid because we are being treated with contempt. The chair of Bord Bia importing Brazilian beef while holding Irish farmers to the highest standards is a brazen double standard. Put that then in the context of Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and independents preparing to open the door to beef produced with hormones, banned antibiotics and linked to deforestation. That hypocrisy is obvious and farmers can see it clearly. They can smell the bull, Minister. This controversy sits squarely in the context of Mercosur and the government's double standard on trade, food safety, the environment and rural livelihoods. And Fine Gael is at the centre of this. They are shielding one of their own and hoping this will blow over. Fianna Fáil and the Lowry and Healy Ray independents are content to stay quiet and let Fine Gael give two fingers to farmers and to rural Ireland. They say one thing at home and do another in Europe. Trust has been destroyed because people can see the hypocrisy so clearly. Minister, you have the power to end this today. You can restore confidence in Bord Bia or continue to protect the indefensible. Larry Mourne's position is now untenable and if this government votes against this motion next week, farmers will hear that message again loud and clear. We in Sinn Féin stand with Irish farmers, Larry Mourne must go and government must quit this charade and get serious about opposing Mercosur.