Mattie McGrath Demands Minister Apologise or Resign Over Slur
Mattie McGrath challenged a minister over remarks he called an "outrageous slur" against farmers, demanding an apology or resignation. He also defended the Garda and House staff who dealt courteously with protesting farmers and raised concerns about stalled Beef Task Force work and the organic scheme's cereal prioritisation.
Demand for apology and resignation
He challenged the minister to retract remarks made "yesterday", calling them an outrageous slur and saying the minister is not fit for office if he does not apologise in the House. He said the minister compared the situation to what happened with the Queen group and accused MII and another minister of being involved in making allegations against farmers.
Praise for Garda and House staff
He thanked House staff and the Garda for their conduct at a street corner where farmers were present, noting they were treated courteously. He also acknowledged community members who brought coffee to the farmers and expressed gratitude on their behalf.
Beef Task Force progress
He reiterated that it was agreed in September the Beef Task Force was the best vehicle to secure a viable future for everyone in the sector from producer to processor. He criticised the lack of follow-through on the template and agreement that should have been implemented by 14 October, saying that work has not happened to date.
Organic scheme and cereals prioritisation
On the organic sector, he said he reopened an existing scheme based on strategy recommendations targeting deficits in cereals, dairy and horticulture. He reported there were 255 applications, with a number ruled ineligible or incomplete, noted most applicants were in the beef and lamb sector where there is oversupply, and said cereals were prioritised to provide affordable supplementary feed for organic beef and lamb producers.
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First of all, I want to thank the staff at the House I want to thank the Garda Street corner on behalf of the farmers. They asked me to do it, they were outside, they were treated courteously. Thank the people who brought up cups of coffee to them, the community people who supported them. I want to challenge you, Minister, to Minister Creed. If he doesn't come in here to his house and retract what he said yesterday, the outrageous slur, he's not fit for office, he should resign. And I'm that serious because how dare I am. And he actually said that it was like what happened with the Queen group. Disgraceful. When there was no complaint in the Garda station, no file anywhere. And Minister Flanagan was involved in it too. So what's going on with MII and Codding up with Minister Flanagan and making this allegation, Minister Creed has to apologize to those farmers unresolvidly in this house, if not he should resign and go because he's not fit for office anyway. Thank you, Deputy Cardinal. Just, we all agree, and it was agreed in September, that the best vehicle and the best way of progressing a future, a viable future for everybody in the sector, from producer to processor to whoever else that's involved, is through the Beef Task Force. and work on the template and the agreement that was signed up to. That hasn't happened to date. It should have happened on the 14th of October, and there's no point in me revisiting the reasons why it didn't happen. Sorry, that is not the reason why it wasn't. That isn't the reason. And if you listen to me the first time, maybe you listen to me this time, if you check the record, if you're in here on oral questions this morning, Minister Creed clarified the issue with regard to what exactly happened last week, what exactly he said, and it's on the Dáil record. With regard to the organic sector, I might add, I answered those questions. You're right, there was 255. There was a good number of them were ruled either didn't complete the form or were ruled ineligible. When I announced the reopening of the existing scheme, not a new scheme, I said that it was on foot of the organic strategies recommendations that had been targeted at the areas of deficit, which was cereals, dairy and horticulture. Deputy Ryan asked earlier how many horticulture were refused. One was refused out of two that applied. The majority of them were in the beef and lamb sector, where there's already an oversupply and only up to 30% or maybe slightly more of organically produced beef and lamb is actually sold that way. One of the reasons for it is there isn't enough feed in the system at an affordable price. That's why cereals were prioritised, that we need to get more cereals into the system so that beef and lamb producers that are already registered as organic have an affordable source of supplementary feeding. That's the reason that it was prioritised. It was on foot of the recommendation of the strategy group, which involves all stakeholders. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
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