Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon has said that he won't allow Bord Bia’s quality assurance schemes to be undermined.

Speaking in the Dáil on Thursday, he said the reason Ireland has such a strong and dominant position in the British market is because of the equivalence in food standards with the Red Tractor quality assurance scheme.

“I will not stand for us drifting away from that and allowing the undermining of our quality assurance scheme, which has served us so well. I will not let that happen on my watch,” he said in response to Sinn Féin spokesperson on agriculture Deputy Martin Kenny in a debate on Bord Bia.

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Deputy Kenny questioned the Minister on the issue which led to an Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) sit-in at Bord Bia HQ earlier this year – the importation of Brazilian beef by Bord Bia chair Larry Murrin’s company Dawn Farm Foods. Less than 1% of the company’s beef came from Brazil in 2025.

Deputy Kenny cited the new Bord Bia farmer’s forum, established following the sit in, stating it was “a positive advancement on things”.

However, he said that the problem is that the chair of the organisation that is marketing Irish food globally is also using a product that flies in the face of the quality standards we have in Ireland.

No rehash

“The issues in this area have been well aired and I am on the record of the house as having clearly outlined the facts as they are,” Minister Heydon said.

“I am not going to rehash them, but the deputy talks about things at the heart of the matter. I will tell him what is at the heart of the matter.

"It is the price that farmers get for their beef, lamb, dairy produce and beyond. It is about how we can best, as a country that exports 90% of the food and drink we produce, give the best income back to our farmers,” he said.

Minister Heydon then questioned Deputy Kenny on how he thought the value of Irish farmers' exports and produce increased from about €10bn in 2010 to €20.8bn last year.

“We did that through the work of Origin Green, the work of our farmers and others, and the work of Bord Bia in promoting and supporting Irish agri-food businesses that are selling Irish farmers' produce and giving that best possible price return to our farmers,” he said.