Fianna Fáil TD for Cavan-Monaghan, Brendan Smith, has called on the Minister for Agriculture to immediately resume beef crisis talks today rather than wait until Monday.

Deputy Smith said, “The Minister must immediately resume talks. Waiting until Monday to reconvene a second round of talks is unacceptable and will benefit no one. We need to recommence talks straight away while the momentum is there.

“A Fianna Fáil proposal was passed at this week’s Oireachtas Agricultural Committee meeting mandating the Minister for Agriculture to seek the immediate resumption of talks and calling for meat processors to demonstrate a willingness to address these issues as part of a renewed talks process.  The Committee also unanimously agreed the necessity for retailers to be included in talks. 

“The Minister has chosen to ignore the will of the committee that talks should reconvene. I am surprised there is no urgency from the Minister to get back to the table. It is important those talks resume and it should happen today”, concluded Deputy Smith.