ICSA: Beef regulator must be equipped with proper powers

It has now become a factor that is beyond any doubt that the office of the Food Ombudsman must be reinforced with further legislation in order to create conditions in which the beef sector is subject to effective regulation, the President of the ICSA, Dermot Kelleher, has declared.

The necessity for a regulator to be given ‘teeth’ has become an incontestable issue, he said.

“Recent claims by Meat Industry Ireland that farmers receive 80% of revenue generated from Irish beef sales - based on a couple of slides shown to the last Beef Taskforce by Grant Thornton - have only served to increase anger about fairness in the food chain,” he explained.