Sinn Féin has called on backbench TDs in the government parties to vote in favour of its motion to have Larry Murrin removed as chairperson of Bord Bia.

The Sinn Féin motion will be voted on this evening in the Dáil, following a debate last week.

There will also be a vote on a government amendment to that motion, which will effectively cancel out Sinn Féin's intended meaning, by deleting the call to remove Murrin and replacing it with an expression of support for him.

Sinn Féin's spokesperson on agriculture Martin Kenny said "It's time for TDs to decided if they will stand [with] Irish farmers and do the right thing by voting to remove Larry Murrin as chairperson of Bord Bia".

According to Kenny, it was "evident" at the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food meeting last week, which Murrin attended, that "the majority of TDs and senators were on the same page" in relation to Murrin's future.

"I hope, therefore, that government backbench TDs have the backbone to hold their position in tonight's vote and stand up for Irish farmers," the Sligo-Leitrim TD said.

"Government is circling the wagons to protect one of their own. They are putting the future of Irish agriculture on the line in doing so," Kenny claimed.

Call for free vote

Meanwhile, the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA), which is supporting the Sinn Féin motion, has called on the two main government parties to allow a free vote among their TDs tonight.

"Government TDs up and down the country have told us that they believe Larry Murrin should not be the chair of Bord Bia," IFA president Francie Gorman claimed.

"However, they are being whipped in by their parties to vote for something they do not believe," he added.

"This is very short-term thinking by the government... Applying the party whip on an issue like this is wrong," Gorman said.

"On a matter like this, TDs should be allowed to exercise their own judgement and to reflect the views of the electorate in their constituencies," the IFA president added.