Fianna Fáil’s spokesperson on agriculture, Charlie McConalogue, has said that the Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed is “too hands-off” in his reaction to the beef dispute.
“We need to see real leadership, he needs to call all the farming organisations into a meeting with him, we need to see talks resumed,” Mr McConalogue told national radio.
The Minister had been “too slow” in getting talks going in the first place, added the Donegal TD.
It is clear that the previous talks process didn’t work.
Farming organisations and other sector representative organisations were confused about the capacity of further talks to deliver a deal, he said.
Mr McConalogue called on the Minister to engage further with the EU for more aid to combat the losses that farmers were facing. The Minister needs to bring continuity to the market, he said.
In relation to Government plans in case of a hard Brexit, Mr McConalogue said he was not reassured that a plan was in place.
"It was not enough to be providing information. There needs to be a hands-on engagement to make sure that preparations are being made."
