Heydon to ask Bord Bia to develop action plan following review
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon has welcomed the completion of a governance review of the board of Bord Bia.
The review, commissioned by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), was carried out by consultants, Governance Ireland.
The review was part of the agreement that ended weeks of protests by the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) at Bord Bia headquarters earlier this year.
The IFA had called for the resignation or removal of the chair of Bord Bia, Larry Murrin.
It following confirmation that Murrin's company, Dawn Farm Foods, sourced 1% of its beef supply from Brazil in 2025.
Bord Bia
The review published today (Friday, June 12) suggests that in general the board of Bord Bia is "very capable, engaged and committed, with a strong governance foundation with solid structures and processes".
It also found that the chair, Larry Murrin "is viewed as providing clear leadership, maintaining appropriate focus on governance and strategy".
The review found no fundamental governance failure but identified weaknesses in board culture, understanding of roles, and governance practices.
The report puts forward a list of 22 recommendations to address these issues, including strengthening governance processes, board culture and providing for induction and ongoing training for board members.
Action plan
Minister Heydon said that he welcomed the completion of the report.
"I will be engaging with the chair and the board of Bord Bia, requesting that they develop a timely and effective action plan to address the very practical recommendations in this report, and that they regularly update me on progress.
"I note that Bord Bia is already increasing its engagement with stakeholders through both the establishment of a farmer forum on Quality Assurance Schemes - with the first meeting taking place later this month - and the development of an Audit Ready campaign, to support farmers as they prepare for their audit.
"I hope that these initiatives will enhance the two-way communication between Bord Bia and its farmer members, who are the bedrock of the agri-food sector’s export success," he said.
Minister Heydon said the work of Bord Bia in "promoting quality Irish food and drink products, both at home and abroad, delivers important benefits both to farmers and the food and drinks industry".
"Having an effective and well-functioning board is also important to me as minister in ensuring proper accountability and governance for Bord Bia’s role as a non-commercial state body under the aegis of my department.
"I am confident that the implementation of the recommendations from this independent review will help to further strengthen the board of Bord Bia in fulfilling its important mandate," he added.
