Beef task force delay
Deputy McConalogue criticised the failure to get the beef task force operating after the protests were stood down. The Minister said a meeting had been convened but could not proceed and efforts were being made to assemble all parties again.
This is a question for the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine. As he well knows, it is two months now since the beef protests stopped across the country. Despite the commitment to get a beef task force up and running, which led to the protests being stepped down, some two months later there has been a total failure to do so. The Minister and Government have failed to ensure that happened. There is an onus on the Minister to deliver that commitment. What is the status of the beef task force? Unless we want to see these protests commence again, the task force needs to get up and running. Given that we have seen little change in prices or behaviour by the factories since then, it is essential that the task force gets up and running and that many of the issues it is supposed to address are dealt with comprehensively.
Comment on this
I share the Deputy's anxiety that the task force would meet at the earlier possible date.
Comment on this
As he is aware, we convened a meeting of the task force but unfortunately due to events that are well known and have been previously aired in this House, that meeting did not get under way. Every effort is being made to ensure that every party to the task force is in a position to attend a meeting at the earliest possible date.