Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will not bring him into this. We have to talk about what is happening outside these gates and around Dublin today. We have to talk about our farmers. The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Creed, has been sitting on his hands for too long, unfortunately. The beef sector agreement was signed six weeks ago and the beef task force has yet to meet. The Minister needs to call on the factories to withdraw all the injunctions. That is the impediment to having the talks. There can be no level playing field while powerful, cartel-like factories have legal injunctions out on farmers. The protests we are seeing are a direct result of farmers' frustration at the lack of progress the Government is making on the beef sector. I spoke to farmers yesterday, last night and today and they do not want to be here. They have farming to do at home and do not want to be surrounding Leinster House or in Dublin with their tractors. They have lots of work to do.

The Minister has to sit down with the farmers. I know he went out to the protest this morning but he has to sit down and talk. He also needs to have respect for farmers. Some of the comments he made yesterday in the Dáil show contempt and disrespect for the farming community. These are my neighbours and friends. They are from all over the country and they are struggling to survive. They are the keepers of rural Ireland who produce the quality food we can be proud of when we travel the world. The Minister has to meet the farmers halfway.

Sinn Féin calls on the Government to support our Mandatory Beef Price Transparency Bill 2019, which would ensure transparency throughout the supply chain and that a fair price to all farmers for their produce. We have to sort this out once and for all or this protest will become an everyday occurrence. I call on the Minister to act. The buck stops with him and he has to get this issue sorted, not only for the farming community. We are conscious that people are trying to get to work, hospitals and so on all over this city. The Minister cannot ignore this issue.