The Irish Farmers’ Association has complained about a beef contract for Irish soldiers being awarded to a company in Northern Ireland.
But Defence Minister Tony Killeen defended the granting of the contract to a County Down firm, saying it followed from an open tender competition.
It is the second time the IFA has protested over meat contracts for the army being given to companies outside the State.
Last year, they demonstrated over chicken supplies coming from across the border.
This afternoon, the IFA said that a major contract has recently been withdrawn from a supplier in the midlands and given to a company in Northern Ireland.
The chairman of the IFA Livestock Committee, Michael Doran, said it is totally unacceptable that the Government is awarding contracts to companies outside the State and placing jobs and producers of Irish products at risk.
The IFA accused the Government of double standards. On one hand, said Mr Doran, they 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.
In addition, Michael 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 is unbelievable that the Government would not insist on this standard for all procurement.
Michael Doran called on Defence Minister Tony Killeen to intervene and insist that the meat supplied to the Defence Forces is quality assurance Irish produce, produced and processed in the Republic of Ireland.
