Carol Nolan calls for Board Bia chair to resign over Brazilian beef
Carol Nolan criticised the chairperson of Board Bia for his company's role in importing Brazilian beef and called for Larry Murran to resign. She told the minister that his continuation in the post undermines public confidence and damages Ireland's reputation for world-class food standards.
Opening remarks and attendees
She welcomed farmers from across the country and specifically the Offaly branch of the IFA who were present at the debate, addressing their concerns directly at the start of her remarks.
Call for resignation
She demanded that Larry Murran should resign, saying that stepping down would be the right, honourable and respectful course of action for farmers and for the reputation of the agri-food sector. She urged a speedy appointment of a credible replacement to "steer the ship quickly."
Allegations of hypocrisy and reputational harm
She accused Board Bia and its chairperson of hypocrisy and double standards, arguing that the organisation's role in importing Brazilian beef contradicts its promotion of the highest food standards. She warned that the ongoing situation is causing clear and growing damage to Ireland's reputation as a world leader in food production.
Calls for unity and wider context
She stressed the need for farmers, government and agri-food agencies to pull in the same direction and urged against a protracted, contentious standoff. She referenced recent EU developments around Mercosur to underline that farmers were "not for turning" and said the lessons from that episode should be heeded now.
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I just want to welcome all the farmers from all over the country and in particular the Offaly branch of IFA who are here tonight at this debate. Minister, no amount of verbal or procedural gymnastics that the government engages in can hide the plain fact of the matter here tonight, that there is an open, glaring and festering contradiction at the heart of this dispute. There is hypocrisy and there is double standards. Irish farmers and their representative organisations have lost confidence in the chairperson of Board Bia as a result of his company's role in importing Brazilian beef into Ireland and Larry Murran continuing on as chairperson undermines public confidence in on Board Bia. It damages Ireland's reputation as a world leader producing food that adheres to the highest standards, world-class standards, the highest in the world in fact. And I'm not interested in knee-jerk reactions. I'm interested in a solution and I'm interested in putting an end to this before there's further damage caused to our reputation here in Ireland. I'm not interested in kangaroo courts or anything else but the longer this goes on the worse the damage will be. And as I stated recently, awfully IFA members and farmers throughout this country are really at a loss to understand how on Board Bia is failing to grasp the untenable nature of Chairman Larry Murran's position. And yet we have another Larry causing problems in the beef sector. So can we just put an end to this now and call on Larry Murran to resign because that would be the right and the honourable thing to do, the respectful thing to do to our farmers and for them. The issue here is not about the volume of beef. The issue here is the blatant contradiction in terms of food standard promotion and the institutional attitude of on Board Bia, which amounts to telling farmers and Irish producers, do as we say, not as we do. And it is, as I say, the height of hypocrisy. Farmers, government and all the agri-food 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. Government and indeed on Board 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. 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 Murran resigns and that we put another credible person in there to steer the ship quickly. Gerv Maggot. Thanks, Deputy. Deputy,
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