Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

If you talk to farmers, you will hear they fear getting in with Bord Bia. Bord Bia will be controlling Ireland's new PGI status, which is good. If we are producing a premium product, can Bord Bia envisage a premium price? If we are producing a premium product, why is there a clause in the terms and conditions concerning Bord Bia? A calf born to a suckler cow in Ireland will be out for the first eight or nine months of the year and the dog in the street knows it will be eating grass. When the calf is sold, it goes to a farmer who will probably finish it, or else it goes for export. Such a farmer never needed to be on Bord Bia before, but this is now a condition associated with PGI status. To put it simply, it is a good clause for Bord Bia in that more people will be forced in. Does Mr. Murrin agree that this should be done to farmers?