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Brazil does not meet the standards that European consumers should expect. There is no dispute about that. The head of Bord Bia imported Brazilian beef that does not meet these standards. That is not in dispute either. He is not coming here tomorrow to tell us whether … imported Brazilian beef. We know he did so. We know he has used it as part of his contingency planning, as the Minister outlined. If the contingency planning for the marketing of Irish beef is to mix Brazilian beef in with it, then the Government needs to start

welcome that the Commission has decided it wants to ban Brazilian beef and other food products coming into Europe in spite of the Mercosur trade agreement. It has come to this late in the day. Many of us have been calling out Mercosur and the situation we have … Hogan accepted that they hoped to see foodstuffs taken off the table with regard to the Mercosur trade agreement because of concerns about Brazilian beef. However, it was not taken off. In 2019 we had a motion in the Dáil, one of the few motions the Opposition

State agency responsible for promoting Irish food at the highest international standards, is also the director of a company that is importing Brazilian beef. Another fact is that Brazilian beef had to be recalled just in the past months from Irish shelves. Another fact is that Brazilian beef … hormones that are banned in the European Union. The other fact is the chair of that company, who acknowledges that his company imports Brazilian beef for the Irish market, is the chair appointed by the Government as head of Bord Bia. The issue here is there

wonder, then, that farmers are angry when they hear that the chairperson of Bord Bia, Larry Murrin, is importing possibly contaminated Brazilian beef into the supply of his own company in this country. He claims that it is only 1% of the beef he uses, and that … know that Brazilian beef is produced at about 1% of the standards that Irish farmers must comply with. It is blatantly double standards from Larry Murrin, and shows arrogance towards Irish farmers. I wrote to Dawn Farm Foods in the last couple of weeks

believe I speak for many across Ireland when I say how welcome the European Commission's decision to ban Brazilian beef and other food products is. This is a welcome step. It vindicates the serious concerns we in Sinn Féin have raised along with countless others like … Irish Farmers' Journal, the ICMSA, the ICSA and many more regarding public health risks posed by Brazilian beef. However, it is deeply disappointing that when I and other Members of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture and Food raised these concerns directly with the Commission, we were flatly

Farmers feel undermined, ignored and taken for granted. They are angry – in fact, they are livid – because the importation of Brazilian beef represents not only an existential threat to their livelihoods but the way Brazilian beef is produced runs completely contrary to the standards to which they … Bord Bia benefits directly from this and promotes this message around the world, while at the same time the chair, Larry Murrin, imports Brazilian beef through his private company has destroyed the confidence farmers have in Bord Bia. It has done serious damage to the confidence they have

food, Irish beef and Irish farming is also the chief executive of Dawn Farm Foods, a company that has confirmed that it sources Brazilian beef for the Irish market. That fact alone should have set alarm bells ringing across government. Instead, we have seen evasion, minimisation … importing beef from Brazil, a sector repeatedly associated across Europe with food safety scares, traceability failures, animal welfare concerns and weak regulatory oversight? Brazilian beef has already had to be recalled from Irish supermarket shelves. It has been the subject of sustained and serious concern for years around

protective wing of the Government. For the head of Bord Bia to be the head of a meat processing company that imports Brazilian beef is simply not acceptable. Surely to God some of the Government backbenchers already recognise that the position is untenable, and the Government needs … head of an agency that markets Irish beef around the world and at the same time he is importing and selling Brazilian beef. The Minister is making a mockery of the position by continuing to pretend not to see the massive conflict of interest that is staring

clear that Larry Murrin is the co-founder and CEO of Dawn Farms. Am I correct in believing that Dawn Farms imported Brazilian beef into Ireland? I do not think there is any question about that. How can someone not see that this is a huge conflict … were on to us, as they were on to the IFA and other organisations, to say that it is not okay to import Brazilian beef, that doing so is an absolute conflict of interest and that we are talking about marketing Irish beef. The Minister of State, Deputy

continued day and night. Their message is clear: their confidence in Bord Bia has been deeply damaged. The controversy around the sourcing of Brazilian beef has only widened the divide between farmers and those meant to promote their produce. It does not stop there. We import over … tonnes of low-quality, poorly traceable Mercosur feed, undermining our own fully traceable Irish grain sector. We all know now that Brazilian beef treated with carcinogenic hormones entered the Irish food chain, and the Mercosur deal would also allow in up to 180,000 tonnes of poultry produced

produce can be put into a restaurant, or whatever it was, and it is stated that it is 99% Irish beef and 1% Brazilian beef. The first question arises there. Is our Irish beef contaminated by that 1% that went through no inspection and landed here into … years ago, taking beef from Naas down to Midleton to put it into cold storage, the same beef we are talking about, Brazilian beef. I am seriously concerned to know, first of all, that he was appointed to such an important position as he is fulfilling

Sunday, people are waking up to the Government’s false promises. Last week, the Food Safety Authority issued a recall of Brazilian beef on sale in Ireland – beef containing banned cancer-linked hormones. That recall was not a joke. The meat was tested last October and had long … labelling. It is a well-known brand, the so-called “Finders of Fine Foods”. Instead of using Irish beef, it chooses Brazilian beef, produced to standards decades behind our own. You would need a magnifying glass to read the country of origin on the back of the product

Europe from 1 September. The argument that the chair had was that he could not market his product if he did not use Brazilian beef. Now he will not be able to use Brazilian beef because it is going to be banned. What is going

continue in his role when trust has been broken? How can he have any hand, act or part in the importation of Brazilian beef while pretending that he can police and uphold standards for Irish farmers? I do not know an awful lot about farming … imports beef that falls well short of the standards of Irish beef have people’s confidence when he is importing Brazilian beef and undermining the standards that he is telling all the others in the farming community they must uphold? This is, again, another lesson learnt from this

about Peter Mandelson giving away state secrets or a child molester like Jeffrey Epstein. We are talking about someone whose company is importing Brazilian beef. Obviously, there are questions, as others have said, about Brazilian beef, including in the context of banned hormones, traceability and the environmental impact

time, while it is making promises to the IFA and the farming community, it is supporting the head of the IFA bringing in Brazilian beef. It is an absolute disgrace. I am shocked at Deputy Michael Healy-Rae. He is a man who says he has stood … farmers all of his life. He is now standing here to defend a man who is bringing in Brazilian beef. Is your junior Ministry so important that you would deny the people who voted for you? Is this what we get from the Lowry and Healy-Rae Independents

many other funding opportunities for our farmers has this Government simply not bothered to pursue? Earlier this year the European Commission announced that Brazilian beef would be removed from the EU food safe list due to high public health risk. Yet rather than act decisively in the interests … chosen to export beef to Ireland and the EU at volumes we have never seen before. Throughout 2025, 172,000 tonnes Brazilian beef were imported into Ireland. In the first three months of 2026, that figure has already reached 229,000 tonnes, flooding Irish shops and restaurants with

need a full investigation into how many tonnes of Brazilian beef are coming in. I do not believe that Larry Murrin is the only individual or business bringing Brazilian beef into this country. We need to have a serious investigation into this matter, not just in the beef

dangers of provisional application. I have not seen what the Government will do to oppose Mercosur or deal with the possibility of more Brazilian beef, with hormones and antibiotics and without the traceability that applies to Irish beef, being imported here. That is what we need … global food supply chains and contingency planning does not make for good social media clips. Does this contingency planning include the importation of Brazilian beef? The chair has to go. What happened is unacceptable, and the Government has been a disgrace

responsible for upholding accountability, managing conflicts of interest and maintaining high ethical standards. Surely, if the chairman of Bord Bia is importing Brazilian beef through his own company, that is a conflict of interest and a breach of ethical standards. This is a serious matter … board is the chairman himself. This raises the question of whether the Minister was aware of the chairman's company using Brazilian beef as raw material for products it supplies. By anyone's standards, this is a conflict of interest and a breach of ethical standards

restore confidence in the system because it has broken down. We still do not know the names of the three companies that imported Brazilian beef earlier this year. Has the Agri-Food Regulator told the Minister the names of these three companies? When are we going to find … Dawn Foods one of these three companies? I ask because we have a situation where the head of Bord Bia is also importing Brazilian beef. He simply has to go, yet the Minister seems to be absolutely determined to protect the well-connected rather to protect the sector

them, penalises them and markets their products on the basis of stringent quality checks and traceability. Yet, the chairman of that organisation imports Brazilian beef produced to standards that would be illegal here. There is no ambiguity in that. We all get the message. Farmers hear us clearly … angry because they are being undermined. The public is livid because we are being treated with contempt. The chairman of Bord Bia importing Brazilian beef while holding Irish farmers to the highest standards is a brazen double standard. When we put that in the context of Fine Gael

position of Larry Murrin as chairman of Bord Bia is untenable. The revelations surrounding his company's importation of substandard Brazilian beef into Ireland are an insult to Irish farmers and have created a crisis of confidence within Bord Bia. The farmers I speak to in my constituency … Through Bord Bia Irish farmers must meet the strictest food production standards while at the same time the organisation's chairman is importing Brazilian beef into Ireland. There is also the image of an organisation whose whole remit is to promote the quality of Irish food around

things. They are all in place. Yet they see the people at the top, who are in charge of marketing Irish beef, importing Brazilian beef at the same. It is just untenable that this man can stay in that position. The Minister knows this and the writing

decimated our native forests. Where we have replanted trees we have put in conifers. We are talking about Irish beef being better than Brazilian beef and getting into this big argument. Personally, I believe that if we are polluting the rivers by getting a nitrates derogation

Deputy Natasha Newsome Drennan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if there has been increased physical checks on Brazilian beef into Ireland following the EU Commissions plans to remove Brazilian beef from the EU safe food list; and if he will make a statement

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 738 of 9 December 2025, in relation to the importation of Brazilian beef that was contaminated with growth hormones, when he expects the Brazilian competent authorities to conduct an investigation, and report to the EU authorities

Ireland and abroad as Irish beef is in fact Irish beef only as per label and is not contaminated or diluted with Brazilian beef or beef from other countries; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6891/26

five years; if so, to publish the result of that testing; and if not, the reason, given the EU is about to ban Brazilian beef. [38520/26

Deputy Natasha Newsome Drennan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the tonnage of Brazilian beef imported to Ireland since May 2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52218/26

Natasha Newsome Drennan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he is concerned regarding the high volume of importing of Brazilian beef impact on public health, since the EU commission announced plans to remove it from the EU safe food list; and if he will

failure to adequately address public concerns regarding a potential conflict of interest arising from the chairperson's involvement in the importation of Brazilian beef into Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52278/26

programme has been reviewed and updated following the concerns raised by the EU Commission over the Antibiotic/Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR) threat posed by Brazilian beef production; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41597/26

Deputy Louis O'Hara asked the Minister for Health if she or the Food Safety Authority have concerns regarding Brazilian beef being sold and consumed in Ireland; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38251/26

oversight at Bord Bia in light of the recent dispute arising from revelations that the Bord Bia chair’s private company imported Brazilian beef for use in its products; the concerns raised by the Irish Farmers’ Association regarding conflicts of interest; and the ongoing independent expert-led review

Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the measures in place to ensure traceability for Brazilian beef imports under EU and Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine licence conditions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13670/26

Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the protocols for serial numbers or labelling used on Brazilian beef consignments entering Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13671/26

Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to clarify if the exact tonnage of Brazilian beef imports in 2025 is publicly disclosed or is it commercial sensitive; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13672/26

asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if any Irish processors have had meat recalls, and whether any such incidents involved Brazilian beef; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13677/26

Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if all Brazilian beef imports are tested for banned hormones and antibiotics; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13680/26

Kenny asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide the names of the three Irish companies that imported Brazilian beef containing the growth hormone oestradiol in September 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7410/26

Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for Health if the Food Safety Authority of Ireland has provided her with a report into the Brazilian beef containing the growth hormone oestradiol that was imported into Ireland in September 2025; and if so, if she will publicise the report

asked the Minister for Health the reason it took three months for the Food Safety Authority of Ireland to issue a recall on Brazilian beef containing the growth hormone oestradiol that was imported into Ireland in September 2025; and if she will make a statement on the matter

Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Health if she has had engagement with the Food Safety Authority of Ireland regarding the reason Brazilian beef was allowed to enter the Irish market in December 2025, while the results of the tests for oestradiol were not yet known

Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his attention has been drawn to the recent revelations regarding an organisation (detail supplied) that sources Brazilian beef as a raw material for the products it supplies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7002/26

Agriculture, Food and the Marine the action his Department has taken on recent reports that the European Commission has recalled consignments of frozen Brazilian beef products imported in to the European Union recently in view of the fact that prohibited growth hormones were detected in these products

Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he is aware of any Brazilian beef recalled from the shelves of Irish shops due to it containing banned growth hormones; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [69926/25

Kenny asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he has contacted the EU Commission in relation to the importation of Brazilian beef that was contaminated with growth hormones; how this beef was not identified at abattoir level in Brazil; and if he will make

Butterly asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if following a recent report of illegal and substandard antibiotics being used in Brazilian beef imports, he will request a re-examination of the terms and conditions of the Mercusor trade deal to create a level playing field

aware of the reports on Brazil’s illegal antibiotic trade; if he has concerns regarding same in relation to the import of Brazilian beef into the EU; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [66472/25