Row between IFA and Department of Defence over contract for Down firm

A ROW broke out yesterday between the Irish Farmers Association and the Department of Defence over meat supplies to the Defence Forces.

The IFA said the Defence Forces recently withdrew a major meat contract from an Irish supplier and awarded the contract to an out-of-state wholesaler.

But the Defence Minister Tony Killeen strongly defended the awarding of a contract by his department for the provision of beef and bacon to the Defence Forces to a Co Down-based company, Crossgar Food Products.

The contract for the provision of meat to all military barracks is for a two-year period from May 1, 2010 and is valued at some €1.5 million

IFA Livestock Committee chairman Michael Doran said it was incredible and totally unacceptable that the Government is awarding food supply contracts to companies outside the state and placing jobs and producers of Irish products at risk.

“This is double standards by the Government, which on one hand regard people crossing the border to shop as unpatriotic, while on the other they award multi-million euro contracts to out-of-state suppliers, resulting in job losses and the import of non-Irish produce,” he said.

Mr Doran said after major investments by Irish farmers, Bord Bia and processors in developing the highest standards through the Bord Bia Quality Assurance scheme, it was unbelievable that the Government would not insist on this standard for all procurement.

“This is a real case of the Government not practicing what they preach,” he said.

Mr Killen said the award of the contract follows from an open tender competition.

The significant factor related to cost.

“The Defence Forces have absolutely no discretion in this regard. Adherence to these guidelines is important because, in general, the open market is of benefit to Irish producers,” he said.