Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I want to return to the issue of the open letter of the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, which was issued on social media and addressed to farmers at picket lines across the country. I do not believe the Minister's intervention was helpful. It does not represent the kind of leadership required at this very sensitive point in this dispute. Those who are on the picket lines are women and men whose families in many cases have farmed for generations. The Minister's essential message, which is to shape up or ship out, was really quite disgraceful. Having delayed intervening in this dispute, which is a decade in the making, it really does not make any sense for the Government to further polarise the positions. No farmer wants to be on the picket line. They have a product to sell. Without sales, they have no income. Small farmers are no different from any other small business or micro-business; they need a minimum income. Our island is one of small indigenous businesses and micro-businesses. Small businesses are the beating heart of our economy. This includes our small farmers, our family farmers. As I acknowledged earlier, progress was made during the discussions but the very root of the dispute has not been addressed. Even within the restrictions of competition law, the matter of baseline price will need to be addressed and advanced. This is not a new issue. It is an issue that is resolvable.

I ask the Taoiseach to consider supporting Sinn Féin's legislation to establish a beef market observatory to ensure full price transparency through the beef supply chain. This would provide a long-term solution to the very deep-rooted mistrust among small farmers of the processors. It is not controversial. It is deliverable even in the short time left under the confidence and supply agreement of the Fianna Fáil–Fine Gael Government. We need to get workers back to work and into the factories, and we need to get farmers back farming. This is a serious business that requires serious leadership. Social media do not represent an appropriate space for the Minister to conduct discussions, give advice or engage in negotiations. I hope he will reflect on that. I hope the Taoiseach will finally agree with me that now is the time for a new round of talks. There is no point in criticising farmers on the picket lines and lamenting the laying off of thousands of workers; we need to sit down and sort this out rationally and constructively. The core issue is baseline price. If we are not talking about that and if the Government is not prepared to resolve this, it is not serious about arriving at a solution.

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