Call for fair play for Mayo farmers in beef dispute

Mayo Senator Rose Conway-Walsh has called on Agriculture Minister Michael Creed to 'stop sitting on his hands' in dealing with farmers' ongoing concerns for their livelihoods.

The Erris-based Sinn Féin representative hit out: “The Beef Sector Agreement was signed six weeks ago, and the Beef Taskforce has yet to meet.

“Minister Creed needs to call on the factories to withdraw all injunctions. Minister Creed also needs to show respect to our farmers because some of the comments the Minister made in the Dáil yesterday where very disrespectful.

“There can be no level-playing field while powerful cartel-like factories have legal injunctions out on farmers.

“The protests we’ve seeing in Dublin are a direct results of farmers frustration at a lack of progress being made by the government in the beef sector.”

Her party has called on the government to support its Beef Price Transparency Bill which would ensure transparency right throughout the supply chain to ensure all farmers get a fair price for their produce.