10 Questions for Larry Murrin and Bord Bia
IFA has set out 10 questions for Larry Murrin and/or Bord Bia to answer arising from Murrin’s performance at the Joint Oireachtas Committee last Thursday, which was high on style, but low on substance.
Six IFA members are still occupying the Bord Bia offices in Dublin. They are:
– IFA National Treasurer Patrick McCormick from Monaghan
– Adrian Gallagher, IFA National Sheep Chair from Donegal
– Teresa Roche, IFA Farm Family Chair from Galway
– Tom Byrne, former Wicklow IFA County Chair
– Richard Moeran, former Cavan County IFA Chair
– Christine Friel, IFA Farm Family Committee rep from Donegal
The questions for Larry Murrin:
The Code of Governance for State bodies says that all board members, including the Chair, must disclose any conflicts of interest or perceived conflicts of interest to the Board. At the JOC Larry Murrin said that he considered this himself and he decided he wasn’t conflicted. Can he say why he didn’t disclose the matters to the board in line with the Code?
At the JOC he confirmed that his company Dawn Farm Foods (DFF) was also importing significant quantities of poultry. Did he disclose this to the board at the emergency board meeting on January 22nd? When did he inform the Minister of this?
Why did the Chair not absent himself from the emergency board meeting, as set out in the Code of Governance for State bodies?
On the Dawn Farm Foods (DFF) website, it says that his company’s products ‘have farm to fork traceability’. At the JOC he accepted that cattle in Brazil were only tagged after 10 months. He justified this by saying that DFF ‘QA people’ were happy with it. It would certainly not meet Bord Bia’s QA standard for traceability. How can he stand over this ‘Farm to Fork’ commitment?
The DFF website clearly implied that DFF was Gold Standard under ‘Origin Green’? At the JOC he accepted that his company was no longer meeting this standard. The website was changed the day after the hearing. Is it acceptable that the Chair of Bord Bia, which awards these standards, would not have their website fully accurate on such matters?
At the JOC he stated that DFF was part of Origin Green. How much Bord Bia Quality Assured product does his company purchase? Based on his comments at the JOC it would appear to be less than 50%. Can he clarify this?
Could Bord Bia clarify what percentage of Bord Bia Quality Assured produce is a company required to use to be part of Origin Green?
At the JOC he refused to give the exact tonnage of Brazilian beef he imported in 2025. He said it was commercially sensitive. It was Mr Murrin himself that put the 1% figure in the public domain to try and dismiss farmer concerns. Yet, when he asked to give details on the Dail record to support this claim he refused to do so. Will he put the exact quantities in the public domain along with where he sourced the rest of his beef in 2025?
On poultry, rather than giving an exact amount or a percentage, as he did for beef, he used the percentage of the overall imports of poultry into Ireland. Based on this, we estimate it could be as much as 70m breasts. Will he confirm the exact amount of poultry he brought in from Brazil and other countries outside the EU in 2025?
Larry Murrin stated in his written opening statement to the JOC hearing that Bord Bia operates ‘voluntary’ Quality Assurance schemes. This shows an alarming lack of understanding of the reality for farmers on the ground. Dairy, pig, and poultry farmers will not have their produce processed if they are not Quality Assured. Beef farmers face penalties of up to 30c/kg, suckler farmers risk losing €150 per cow under the SCEP scheme. Will the Chair write to the JOC to clarify this point?
