Noel Coonan (Fine Gael)

Will the Leader ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food to intervene in the worsening dispute between the farming groups and meat processing plants? This dispute will have dire consequences for the farming community, meat exporters and workers employed in the plants. It is vital that somebody intervenes in the dispute as a matter of urgency. If the Leader finds the Minister is unwilling to intervene, perhaps she would use her considerable experience and her office in this House to intervene and bring both parties together in order that the dispute can be satisfactorily resolved. It is criminal that it has been allowed to continue during this critical time for the farming community.