The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association (ICMSA) has said Bord Bia "should present detailed proposals on how it intends to restore farmer confidence".

The comments come as the controversy involving Bord Bia chair Larry Murrin, which has been ongoing in recent weeks, continues.

The dispute began when Dawn Farm Foods, of which Murrin is CEO, confirmed that Brazilian beef accounted for 1% of its beef supply in 2025.

Farm organisations and some politicians believe this is "incompatible" with his role as chair of Bord Bia which is tasked with promoting Irish agri-food.

However, Murrin has rejected this and has said he is "completely reconciled that there is no conflict, incompatibility whatsoever".

The government, including Minister Heydon, have supported Murrin to remain as the chair of Bord Bia.

Last week, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon held a meeting with farm organisations which ended without unanimous agreement on how to move forward.

During the meeting, the minister shared a document with a number of proposals.

This included that Bord Bia would "commit" to "revisit the focus on farmer experience with audits" and establish a farmer forum on quality assurance (QA) schemes.

The document also set out that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) would "undetake an initiative to enhance understanding of global supply chains for Irish and food and drink".

ICMSA

The ICMSA has sent its own 11 detailed proposals to Minister Heydon, covering both Bord Bia and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).

The farm organisation said it wants Bord Bia to expand on how it intends to simplify the Sustainable Dairy Assurance Scheme (SDAS) and Sustainable Beef and Lamb Assurance Scheme (SBLAS) from a farmer perspective.

ICMSA sought clarity on what organisations would be represented on the proposed farmer forum, which it said should have an independent chairperson.

It also called for greater farmer involvement in the development of the new producer standard.

Bord Bia board

Along with Larry Murrin, there are 14 other members on the board, including the ICMSA and the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA).

ICMSA said that "all Bord Bia board members should be obliged to set out whether they import produce from outside the EU".

"Where the produce can be sourced from Ireland or secondly the EU, they should commit to not importing such produce from outside the EU unless a justifiable reason can be given for such imports and full transparency regarding the quantity, source and final destination of the imports," it said.

The farm organisation called on milk processors to review their policy of making SDAS a compulsory requirement for suppliers

It also urged Meat Industry Ireland (MII), Dairy Industry Ireland (DII) and Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (ICOS) to commit to requiring no further terms and conditions in the current QA schemes.

"The minister should commit to remove the SBLAS requirement from the Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP) and secondly, that participation in SDAS/SBLAS will not be requirement for any future farm scheme," ICMSA added.

Food labelling

The proposals claim that the current food labelling regulations are "deficient from a farmer and a consumer perspective".

ICMSA called for "clear labelling of all imported food products and in particular, food products from outside of the EU".

"Consumers have a right to know where their food is coming from and be assured that they are not being misled. Critically, this must include food catering outlets," it said.

The ICMSA also said the government should commit that all State bodies "will ensure that only Irish dairy and beef will be used in their food catering outlets".