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Members of the Oireachtas Agricultural Committee have until close of business this evening to submit their requests to reconvene the committee in order to discuss the ongoing dispute between farmers and meat processors.
A number of farmers are due to attend High Court today on foot of injunctions granted against them for protesting outside beef factories.
Meat Industry Ireland (MII) has stated that the protests amount to an “illegal blockade” and up to 12 meat plants have been forced to close with a number of staff layoffs.
Cornerstone
“Ireland’s agricultural produce is among the finest in the world and is one of the cornerstones of our high-performing export sector. With that in mind, its stability and the collaboration between the various stakeholders, included farmers, processors and everyone else involved, is critical,” chair Pat Deering TD said.
“With that in mind, and given the complexity of the current situation, there is a particular onus on me to consider any proposal received to decide whether it would be in order from a procedural perspective for the committee to consider it.”
It’s not clear what the committee hopes to achieve, but if they do reconvene they propose to meet on Wednesday 4 September.
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