Bord Bia has now lost credibility with farmers on standards, Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) president Francie Gorman has said.

Gorman was speaking one week after the Minister for Agriculture published the findings of the review into the State agency.

The IFA national council, consisting of elected representatives of farmers from all commodities and all counties, met on Tuesday and agreed that following the review farmer, confidence in Bord Bia cannot be restored with Larry Murrin as chair.

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Frustrations were raised by the council surrounding the review, as it was not in line with the agreed terms of reference and was only a board effectiveness review, Gorman said.

It did not deal with the issues that caused and escalated this dispute, he highlighted.

“There are important recommendations in the review, but it did not fulfil what was in the original terms of reference,” he stated.

The IFA met Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon last week and he said that he wants the 22 recommendations in the review to be implemented, which is important.

However, the IFA said that the Minister conveyed that he will not take any further action on the issues which caused this dispute.

Alleged double standards

Gorman claimed that the Minister has made his choice in choosing to back Larry Murrin and “the double standards that he represents”.

“Farmers are unwilling to accept any additional asks as part of Bord Bia QA schemes and [the] IFA will be using our representation at all levels in Bord Bia to convey this message on behalf of our members. The whole QA process needs to be simplified, not complicated further,” he said.

“For years, Bord Bia has used the image of Irish farmers to promote Origin Green. They use the tagline ‘powered by partnership’. That partnership is broken.

“There was a strong view from the elected national council members on the need for a full review of Origin Green as a matter of urgency.”

Bord Bia has been contacted for comment.