The Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) has said it has requested to meet with the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food to discuss comments made by Bord Bia chair Larry Murrin.

Murrin appeared before the committee himself last week to answer questions around his business, Dawn Farm Foods, and its practice of sourcing some beef from Brazil.

Farm organisations claim that this practice clashes with his role as chairperson of Bord Bia, which is tasked with promoting Irish agri-food.

Currently, the IFA are staging a protest both outside and inside Bord Bia's head offices in Dublin, and have also protested at the constituency office of Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon in Kildare.

IFA president Francie Gorman claimed that Murrin "raised serious questions" while speaking to the committee last week, which Gorman claimed included issues around the governance code for state bodies and his business' sourcing policy, and other issues.

Gorman said: "We have identified 10 specific points that have arisen from Mr. Murrin's testimony... There are also other issues. Every day that goes by more issues are arising.

"As there is a key vote in the Dáil on Wednesday night, we have requested a slot for a right of reply before this so that TDs and senators can hear more about these issues before any vote," the IFA president said.

Gorman was referring to a Sinn Féin motion calling on the government to remove Murrin from his role as Bord Bia chairperson.

The IFA said that meetings of technical advisory committees, which oversee Bord Bia's quality assurance schemes, have been postponed again this week, after the same meetings were already postponed in late January.

Bord Bia cofirmed to Agriland that, at the "request of some TAC members", it has postponed TAC meetings which were schedule for this week. Bord Bia said the meetings will be rescheduled "in due course".

These meetings include representatives from farm organisations.

Gorman claimed that the postponement of these meetings "shows that Bord Bia cannot carry out its functions because of the ongoing controversy".

"Farmers will not work with Bord Bia while someone who is importing Brazilian beef and poultry remains in the chair.

The IFA also confirmed that the a meeting of Carlow IFA last night (Sunday, February 8) heard that a motion will be put before Carlow County Council calling for Murrin to stand down as Bord Bia chair.

According to Gorman, the "resolve of IFA members remains very strong".

"Farmer anger around this issue has not dissipated. The only solution we can see is for the chair to recognise the damage this is doing to Bord Bia and step down," Gorman said.