Aontú rep criticises government parties for neglecting rural Ireland

A total lof 69 TDs voted against the Bill with 57 TDs voting in favour of the Bill which was drafted by Aontú.

Speaking after the Bill was defeated in Dáil Éireann on Wednesday, November 6, Ms Kealy said: "Aontú had introduced the Equitable Beef Pricing Bill to try and ensure farmers get a fair price for their beef by banning below cost selling. It is more than disappointing that the last vote of this Government has been to slap rural Ireland and its hard-working farmers once more."

Ms Kealy who missed out on winning a seat in Kanturk LEA in this year's local elections said the current coalition government don't 'prioritise' rural Ireland. "If ever we needed proof that this government of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Greens simply don't prioritise rural Ireland, this is it. Imagine a bill to stop the small number of factories and supermarket multiples making hundreds of millions of euro in profit on the backs of beef farmers. The beef market is distorted and dysfunctional. Factories have enormous buyer power while farmers have practically no supplier power."

"This is pushing farmers off the land around Cork," said Ms Kealy. "This is unsustainable. All this is happening in the context of the EU Mercosur Trade Deal which will represent the final nail on the coffin of the Irish beef farmer. The deal makes no environmental sense and will see Irish beef farmers shafted by the EU in favour of substandard South American beef."

"Aontú want to ensure there is a fair distribution of profit within the beef supply chain in Ireland. We want to ensure that we have food security into the future. We also want to see a rural Ireland that's alive and prospering. It is very disappointing that the three parties in government used their last vote in the Dáil to block this legislation," she added.