As I was saying, if an Irish food company failed to address the contingency supply as part of a contract for a major international buyer of Irish produce, that client company would take its business elsewhere. Imagine for a minute here, with all their shouting and bluster, if that contract had gone to a Dutch, German or any non-Irish food company-----
TDs / Martin Heydon
Martin Heydon
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine
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Members of the Government answer questions rather than ask them
128,151
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127,978 as a minister, 173 as a TD
404
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Debates they spoke in most
Plus 425 contributions in the regular slots, such as Leaders' Questions and Priority Questions. Speech from the chair is not counted.
Party, constituency and offices
- constituency Kildare South 29 November 2024 to now
- party Fine Gael 29 November 2024 to now
- office Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine 23 January 2025 to now
-----how much of that contract do they think would involve Irish produce? It is very little, I can guarantee.
The Bord Bia board met on Thursday, 22 January to discuss the issues raised and the recent media coverage. I sought and received a detailed report from Bord Bia following that meeting. It is worth repeating that the members strongly endorsed the integrity of the chairman, the transparency of his business and…
Prove my point.
Prove my next line before I say it.
Sinn Féin is creating noise and bluster to try to make sure farmers cannot get any reasonable, detailed debate around the detail of this matter.
As I said at the outset, we face loads of challenges in agriculture.
They will not be resolved by ultimatums or diktats. I have always defended the agriculture sector. I have done so in the best interests of our farmers and our wider agrifood sector. That is my job.
That is my job in the Department and at the Cabinet table. I do it to the very best of my ability and I will continue to do it, whether it is on nitrates, Mercosur-----
-----CAP or on bluetongue.
Instead of coming in here looking for cheap social media clips on the back of an individual who has made a significant contribution to an important organisation-----
-----Sinn Féin might reflect on whether it could have used its time better here in farmers' interests discussing another item.
I trust my colleague will get the appropriate four minutes that eluded him because of the interruptions.
No.
It is a deliberate attack.
It is a deliberate attack by Sinn Féin.
He is entitled to his time, because you interrupted him.
A whole year-----
You are superseding the very committee you will sit on tomorrow. You are superseding the work of that committee.
I thank Deputy O'Donoghue for raising what is a really important issue. I also offer my condolences and sympathies to those affected by recent bereavements, whether they finally get categorised as farm safety fatalities or otherwise.
The HSA, as a statutory body, has work to do. There are an unacceptably high level of fatalities on farms and, as the Deputy quite rightly outlined, ours is the most dangerous workplace…
Obviously, anything we say now is in general and not in relation to any specific case.
We talked about a range of issues. Generational renewal has a role to play here as well because, in general, the figures show a disproportionate number of old people are dying on our farms. When people asked me before why so many people in their 70s, and some in their 80s, are dying on our farms, it is because so many people are farming in their 70s and 80s. In any other profession, they would not still be working an…
I thank the Deputy. I also want to mention the accelerated capital allowances scheme for farm safety equipment which was expanded to cover a broader range of farm safety investments in budget 2025. A suite of different financial supports are there.
In relation to older farmers, three quarters of farm fatalities last year involved farmers over 60 years of age. The HSA's farm safety partnership has designed a leaflet …
That was quite a pivot, Deputy.
First, the recall and the food safety elements are a matter for the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, FSAI, which comes under the Department of Health. Any queries in that respect should be directed towards it.
The Deputy has touched on the Bord Bia issue here. There needs to be a proper debate and explanation. Obviously, Mr. Murrin will be in front of the joint committee, and happy …
We have the IFA protesting, and the people who are protesting are being denied that detailed briefing by their leadership. Of all the things I am dealing with this week-----
I am dealing with a lot of things this week, including the outbreak of bluetongue, working on issues around the Agri-Food Regulator, making sure the carbon border adjustment mechanism, CBAM, does not have a bad impact on farmers and reform of the CAP. I was in Brussels on Monday doing that. I was in the Seanad yesterday on nitrates. This other issue is one being conflated and hyped up, and farmers are being done a di…