Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue has been warned that “history will be repeated” in the beef sector in the “absence of dialogue”.
In a letter to the minister, the Irish Beef and Lamb Association (IBLA) called for the establishment of a new stakeholder forum to replace the Beef Market Taskforce, which was set up in the wake of the protests at processors’ gates in 2019.
The IBLA told Minister McConalogue that this is “a critical time” for him as minister.
The group noted that former minister Michael Creed established the taskforce “in a much more hostile environment than the industry finds itself in today”.
The Beef Market Taskforce was formed as part of the Beef Sector Agreement of September 15, 2019, which resulted from the talks that were called by then minister Creed between Meat Industry Ireland (MII) and various farm organisations and groups.
“This forum [the taskforce]…while it may not have been perfect, can be strongly argued to have contributed to a period of improved stability in the industry. The taskforce created a forum in which issues could be discussed so that protests would not be the first course of action,” the IBLA said.
Two of the IBLA’s members sat on the Beef Market Taskforce – Dermot O’Brien and Enda Fingleton. The group says that it was the only stakeholder on the forum to have been opposed to its winding up.
In November it was announced that the taskforce would be closed. However, its chairperson Michael Dowling recommended that a new forum be established to continue work on “key strategic issues facing the sector”, to use Minister McConalogue’s words, who said he would follow through on that recommendation.
“The protests that occurred in 2019 were because the industry was asleep at the wheel and not in touch with the reality on the ground, and the Beef Market Taskforce came about because of the failings of the industry. As time passes, the absence of dialogue will see history repeated,” the IBLA warned in its letter to the minister.
The group added: “Lessons learned from the taskforce create an opportunity to improve the effectiveness of the new forum and IBLA calls on you as Minister for Agriculture, Food and The Marine to invite all parties that contributed previously, without delay, to a new forum, and we suggest that you extend invites to representatives directly from processing facilities and the retail sector.”
The IBLA also called on Minister McConalogue to allow the meetings of the new forum to be broadcast publicly, similar to committees of the Oireachtas.
The letter argues that discussions around the lamb sector should also be incorporated into the new forum.