Department of Agriculture's response to Brexit 'not good enough'
Fianna Fáil's Spokesperson on Agriculture says he is growing increasingly alarmed at the lack of a coherent plan put forward by the Government to deal with the challenges posed by Brexit.
Charlie McConalogue says there is a clear and present danger to 270,000 jobs in rural communities right across Ireland.
Deputy McConalogue says he is appalled by the lack of contingency planning undertaken to safeguard farmers and the Irish agri-food sector.
"In relation to Bord Bia, which is responsible for marketing food internationally and developing new markets, there are only four additional staff to be hired in 2017," he said.
"The Minister [Michael Creed] also only has three staff in his dedicated unit in the Department of Agriculture dealing with Brexit. In relation to the Brexit consultation commitee he established, it has only met twice since it was established in July, and this is simply not good enough in terms of actually meeting the very significant challenge Brexit poses."
