Watch: MEP calls for more farmer reps on boards after Murrin saga
An Irish MEP has said the issue of farmer representation on the governance boards of state bodies "has to be addressed" in the wake of the controversy surrounding Bord Bia chairperson Larry Murrin.
Speaking to Agriland in Strasbourg, Barry Cowen said that this may require more inclusive representation of farm organisations on boards.
Cowen had earlier criticised what he called a "personalised campaign" against Murrin.
The MEP told Agriland that the issue of Larry Murrin and Bord Bia may be "conflated" with legitimate farmer concerns over the EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement.
On the Mercosur trade deal, Cowen said: "Ultimately a democratic decision has been made. It itself has been challenged by virtue of the legal assessment of conditions associated with it and the mechanism of separating trade from the political agreement, which will be resolved in its own time.
"We’ve put forward what I think are substantial amendments to the safeguards in the event of [the deal's] passage, and I think it's incumbent on the likes of me to do that in the event of it proceeding," Cowen added.
He said that, if the trade deal comes into force, there will be "opportunity for recourse" in the event it threatens the agri-sector in Ireland or the EU.
"That's us doing the best to do the job we were elected to do while recognising the supremacy of the democratic process.
"I, along with others, voted against the trade agreement and will vote against the trade agreement...despite the fact if you look at it economically, or the bottom line, or the revenue resources to Ireland, or its capacity to increase those for different sectors, it would be a done deal," he added.
"But it's not always about the money. It's not always about the bottom line," Cowen said.
"Sometimes it has to be about the principal, and the environmental principal and standards that we have worked hard to achieve, that acknowledges the quality and that whole quality process," Cowen added.
He said that this is an area farmers "are very worried and concerned about".
Cowen suggested that the issues of Mercosur and Murrin may by conflated by some farmers and their representatives.
"They look at the likes of this, and they wonder is it conflated and does it contradict the commitments they are making.
"I don't believe it does [contradict] but that's not withstanding the fears and concerns they have because they are at the coal face and they are worried about their livelihoods, their families and their income," Cowen said.
He welcomed the fact the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon has called a stakeholder meeting on the Bord Bia controversy and other issues.
"[The minister] is calling all stakeholders together to discuss the wider issues, the wider concerns that have been debated and spoken and raised during the course of this debate.
"The issue of not participating in governance boards is something that has to be addressed, and if that involves more inclusive representation of farm organisations, so be it," Cowen said.
"We all want to move forward, we all want to address CAP [Common Agricultural Policy] reform, we all want to address market volatility, and other trade agreements that will be more beneficial," the Fianna Fáil TD added.
Additional reporting by Stella Meehan
