The Minister for Agriculture is to look into whether there is a basis for further beef industry discussions, the Irish Farmers Journal understands.
While there is a willingness to go back to the table, a Government source has indicated that the Minister for Agriculture is cautious about whether the demands of individual protesters not represented by any of the farm organisations can be met through further talks.
A fresh wave of protests at five factories coincided with the rejection of the Backweston roundtable agreement by the Beef Plan Movement.
The Beef Plan Movement has stated that it has not organised these current protests, with the Government source saying it cannot determine if the Beef Plan Movement has the authority to act on behalf of the protestors.
Reconvene
To date, only the Beef Plan Movement has publicly said it wants the talks to reconvene. None of the other farm organisations present at the previous round of discussions – IFA, ICMSA, ICSA, INHFA or Macra – have called for the talks to recommence.
The source pointed out that there was substantial progress made at the Backweston talks and the final document was agreed to by all stakeholders present at the process. The agreement, rejected on Monday by the Beef Plan Movement had included plans for engagement between stakeholders and retailers.
It is understood that if all stakeholders agree to further discussions, the Minister is happy to facilitate those talks, even though the current protests are not mandated by any of the farm organisations previously involved in the process.
However, as with previous talks, the source pointed out that the Minister cannot legally have any role in determining the prices for beef, or any other commodity, nor can the Minister or the Department of Agriculture intervene in the determination of prices.
Read more
Beef Plan members reject draft proposals as ‘not good enough’
‘The meetings did nothing for farmers’
Farmer protesters' demands: what they want
Sinn Féin calls for beef talks to be reconvened
The Minister for Agriculture is to look into whether there is a basis for further beef industry discussions, the Irish Farmers Journal understands.
While there is a willingness to go back to the table, a Government source has indicated that the Minister for Agriculture is cautious about whether the demands of individual protesters not represented by any of the farm organisations can be met through further talks.
A fresh wave of protests at five factories coincided with the rejection of the Backweston roundtable agreement by the Beef Plan Movement.
The Beef Plan Movement has stated that it has not organised these current protests, with the Government source saying it cannot determine if the Beef Plan Movement has the authority to act on behalf of the protestors.
Reconvene
To date, only the Beef Plan Movement has publicly said it wants the talks to reconvene. None of the other farm organisations present at the previous round of discussions – IFA, ICMSA, ICSA, INHFA or Macra – have called for the talks to recommence.
The source pointed out that there was substantial progress made at the Backweston talks and the final document was agreed to by all stakeholders present at the process. The agreement, rejected on Monday by the Beef Plan Movement had included plans for engagement between stakeholders and retailers.
It is understood that if all stakeholders agree to further discussions, the Minister is happy to facilitate those talks, even though the current protests are not mandated by any of the farm organisations previously involved in the process.
However, as with previous talks, the source pointed out that the Minister cannot legally have any role in determining the prices for beef, or any other commodity, nor can the Minister or the Department of Agriculture intervene in the determination of prices.
Read more
Beef Plan members reject draft proposals as ‘not good enough’
‘The meetings did nothing for farmers’
Farmer protesters' demands: what they want
Sinn Féin calls for beef talks to be reconvened
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