Calls are continuing for the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed, to see to the reconvening of the Beef Market Taskforce.
Fianna Fáil has said that the “buck stops with the minister” for bringing the stakeholders back around the table, arguing that the failure to do so puts the Irish Beef Sector Agreement at risk.
Charlie McConalogue, the party’s spokesperson on agriculture, food and the marine, commented: “It is two months now since the beef protests stopped across the country.
Despite the commitment to get a beef taskforce up and running, which led to the protests being stepped down, there has been total failure to do so.
“There is urgent onus on the minister to deliver on that commitment. Given that we have seen little change in prices or behaviour by the factories since then, it is essential that the taskforce gets up and running and that many of the issues it is charged with addressing are dealt with comprehensively,” the Donegal TD added.
McConalogue argued that it is not sufficient for Minister Creed to “simply say he shares concern on this matter”.
“The minister must stand up for farmers and get the taskforce operating and take full responsibility for this action,” he insisted.
The buck stops with him and he needs to deliver.
Last Wednesday, November 20, a spokesperson for Minister Creed said that “issues remain on both sides” regarding the reconvening of the taskforce.
However, the spokesperson expressed optimism that it would be reconvened “sooner rather than later” and explained that in the meantime, “measures contained in the Beef Sector Agreement continue to be progressed”.
As of today, Monday, November 25, it has been six weeks to the day that the taskforce was supposed to hold its inaugural meeting, on October 14, at the headquarters of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
Following a protest that day, Michael Dowling, the taskforce’s chairperson, took the decision to postpone the meeting. The taskforce has not been reconvened since.