Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We are just over one month since the signing of the beef sector agreement. It is unacceptable that there is an issue in regard to the outstanding legal injunctions against farmers. Was the Government naive to believe that the task force would meet successfully yesterday while the basic promises regarding the lifting of injunctions were not kept? The task force needs to meet, of that there is no doubt, and it is the place to sort out these issues. However, there is an outstanding issue in regard to the injunctions.

I ask the Minister to call on the processors, including C&D Foods, which is owned by the ABP Food Group, to drop all injunctions. While it says it is not party to the talks, and I am not trying to say it is, it is linked to a company that was party to the talks because it is part of ABP. Considering this is a sector in which there are serious issues of trust between farmers and processors, what does it say if one of the processors will not comply with such a basic part of the agreement? All disputes need to be resolved.

It was also agreed that Bord Bia would develop beef market index models. Will the Minister update us on the progress in that regard?

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