The chair of Bord Bia may not have been present at the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture and Food tonight (Wednesday, February 11) but he was one of the key topics of conversation.

Larry Murrin addressed the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture and Food last week. Murrin is the chair of Bord Bia and also the CEO of Dawn Farm Foods.

The Irish company has confirmed that the business sources some beef from Brazil. According to Dawn Farm Foods, Brazilian beef accounted for 1% of its beef supply in 2025.

The country's largest farm organisations, as well as the Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald, have said they believe Larry Murrin's role as chair of Bord Bia is "incompatible" with his role with Dawn Farm Foods.

Murrin told the committee last week that he was "completely reconciled that there is no conflict, incompatibility whatsoever".

Tonight the committee heard from representatives of the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) and the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers' Association (ICSA).

Separately the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA) also made a submission to the committee.

The Oireachtas Committee had billed it as a "meeting to discuss the potential loss of confidence in the Irish beef sector".

But it was primarily a meeting again about the chair of Bord Bia with questions raised about "conflicts of interest", "importing beef from Brazil" and the "confidence of farmers in Bord Bia".

Oireachtas Committee

The chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food, Aindrias Moynihan, repeatedly reminded everyone during the meeting that the chair of Bord Bia was not there "to defend himself".

However questions and statements about the future of Larry Murrin's role as chair of Bord Bia-dominated proceedings.

The president of the IFA, Francie Gorman, told the committee that since Murrin addressed it last week other issues had arisen.

Gorman said: "The Irish Food and Drink website which is curated by Bord Bia stated that Dawn Farm Foods was accreditedunder the Bord Bia Meat Quality Assurance Scheme (MPQAS).

"The website has since been amended by Bord Bia. The appropriate Bord Bia Quality Assurance standard that would now apply to Dawn Farm Foods is the Food Processor Standard.

"According to Bord Bia’s website, there are currently over 500 food and agri businesses who are members of this or similar schemes in Ireland. Dawn Farm Foods is not one of them."

ICMSA

In its submission to the Oireachtas committee, the ICMSA said "a resolution" to the current issues in relation to Bord Bia needed to be "found immediately" and the "focus return to the many other issues facing the sector".

However it also warned that "farmers have lost confidence".

"Farmers have proactively engaged with Bord Bia sustainability schemes and at the same time, Brazilian beef is being imported into Ireland and how food imports are going to be addressed going forward is absolutely critical," the ICMSA urged.

The farming organisation believes that all Bord Bia board members "should be obliged to set out whether they import produce from outside the EU".

It also wants board members to state where the produce can be sourced from Ireland or the EU, and that "they should commit to not importing such produce from outside the EU".

ICSA

Sean McNamara, president of the ICSA, told senators and TDs that farmers throughout the country "have to do everything right" when it comes to Bord Bia's quality assurance audits.

But he said many were now asking "what's going on" in relation to the chair of Bord Bia "importing beef from Brazil".

McNamara said: "The anger on farms is real.

"There is no flexibility. There are penalties if they fall short".

The ICSA tonight also called for "wider change at board level" in Bord Bia - in general it wants to see more farmers on the board of the organisation.

"ICSA has been promised a seat on that board on a number of occasions, but it has never happened," McNamara added.

One key question that was posed to the representatives of the farm organisations who attended the Joint Committee on Agriculture and Food tonight was on the "way forward".

Several members of the committee asked the representatives of IFA and ICSA what needs to happen next - dialogue was one answer, while another was "a new chair" for Bord Bia.