Beef in the Seanad among Longford representatives
Row erupts over MEP Mullooly’s concerns regarding Brazilian beef in pre-packed lunches
Longford Independent MEP Ciarán Mullooly has refuted claims by members of the Seanad that he was “scaremongering” when he voiced concerns over Brazilian beef being used in pre-packed school meals, pointing out that he was not going to wait for Brazil to “get its act together” in terms of health and safety.
Addressing Mr Mullooly’s remarks in the Seanad last week, Longford Fianna Fáil Senator Joe Flaherty referenced the “four significant school lunch companies” in the county and described the MEP’s remarks as "scurrilous" and “deeply unfair.”
Said Senator Flaherty, “We spend more than €350 million on school lunches. Parents are worried. Scaremongering has no place in the EU Parliament and no place in this House.”
Senator Flaherty added, “We have more than 200 full-time and part-time jobs related to school lunches in Longford. No, he tarred all those companies with the same brush and it was deeply unfair. He effectively said that every school lunch is getting Brazilian beef. He needs to withdraw that remark. He has absolutely no evidence.”
In response, MEP Mullooly pointed out that the Commission had removed Brazilian meat from the safe list and questioned the logic of public representatives sitting by “in a calm and relaxed way while Brazilian beef comes in, especially in pre-packed meals in our schools, with a question mark over it?”
“That is not scaremongering,” the MEP said. “I absolutely refute any suggestion.”
Mr Mullooly said the commission had informed Brazil “to get its act together by September 3,” but added that he wanted to see it get its act together immediately. He added there were no concerns if the beef supplied to schools was Irish, but insisted urgent clarification was needed regarding imported meat.
The MEP added, “If the meat coming to the school is from the UK, I am asking questions, and the Safety Commissioner is asking questions. We need it clarified. I am not prepared to wait until September 3 for this. I have told the Food Safety Authority this very clearly. I could not make it any clearer.”
Mr Mullooly went on to point out, “Irish beef is not a problem. Irish school meals made with Irish beef are not a problem. Beef coming from the UK without proper auditing is a problem. Frozen meat from the UK going into schools and elsewhere is a problem.”
Joining the debate, Fianna Fáil MEP Barry Cowen asked, “Is Mr Mullooly saying beef is going into schools? That is dangerous. In relation to the issue of Irish school meals supposedly being compromised, I refute that. I disagree with it wholeheartedly. If Mr Mullooly has evidence of that I ask that he lays it on the table. If he has not, he should withdraw it and let us move on.”
Addressing the House on the matter of school lunches, Fine Gael Senator Paraic Brady said he had visited the Longford businesses who make school lunches and claimed he knew “at first hand” that the meat in school lunches came from local produce. He said, “We have huge businesses in Longford, as Senator Flaherty said. I have visited these businesses and know at first hand that the meat that goes into our school meals comes from local produce. Local farmers are delivering into local abattoirs that are supplying these businesses. I ask Mr Mullooly to withdraw what he said in this House.”
The Senator also raised remarks made by the MEP during an EU meeting on agriculture when he referenced a specific video of army trucks driving through Limerick. The video in question was being circulated widely online with many believing the deployment of the army to be in response to the nationwide fuel protests that were taking place at the time.
During the meeting in question, Mr Mullooly said he was “watching army tanks going into parts of my member state, Ireland, sent there by the Irish government to remove farmers from the sides of roads.” The defence forces clarified that the footage in question was of the Irish army conducting “mission readiness exercise.”
After realising his error, Mr Mullooly immediately published a clarification on his social media, writing, “Glad to publish this clarification: a mistake was made / nobody made a deliberate effort to mislead people - shows over - Army still shouldn’t be involved in this while request for dialogue remains on table IMO. @GovIE needs to end this tomorrow”
Referencing Mr Mulooly’s original remarks, Senator Brady added, “He worked in RTÉ but has not clarified the statements he made in the European Parliament to the effect that there were tanks on the streets of Dublin during a peaceful protest. I ask him to withdraw that statement. That was very damaging to this country on a world stage. My brother in America rang and asked me what the hell was going on that there were tanks on the streets of Dublin. As Trump said in America, false information can be damaging at all times. Mr Mullooly knows that was false. I ask him to withdraw his comments in this House today. I ask him to get up and confirm it was false information. People need to see the smoke from the trees.”