A civil servant was issued with a verbal warning after his bosses at the Department of Agriculture discovered that he was part of a Beef Plan movement delegation involved in talks with the then Minister for Agriculture.
Now, a State workplace watchdog has rejected the civil servant’s claim that he was penalised for being a member of the Beef Plan Movement by the Department of Agriculture for highlighting work and safety practice issues.
In the case, the part-time farmer and employee of the Department of Agriculture was issued with a verbal warning after his bosses became aware that he was a member of the Beef Plan Movement where he had not obtained prior approval.
February 23, 2021 2:02 pm
A number of political heavyweights – including an MEP and two former ministers – will join some high-profile speakers during two panel discussions on Irish agriculture which are set to take place later this week.
The panel discussions will form two halves of the “Hogan Agricultural Seminar”, which is being organised in webinar form by the Young Fine Gael (YFG) Agriculture, Rural and Environmental Affairs Committee.
According to the committee, this seminar’s theme will be: “Agriculture and the Environment – Rather than being the problem, let’s be the solution.”
YFG says that this online event is being organised to “produce an agricultural and environment policy document for the YFG organisation and for recently appointed Midlands North-West MEP Colm Markey”.
Clodagh Finn: Women’s voices are still not being heard in the public domain Holly Cairns, Cork South West TD marked tone year since the 2020 general election by observing that there are 18 TDs for Cork, but only one of them herself is a woman. Picture: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin
Wed, 10 Feb, 2021 - 06:29
There is a very long tradition of silencing women in public. Professor Mary Beard makes that point wonderfully when she traces the origins of telling women to shut up, as she bluntly puts it, right back to the Odyssey , Homer’s epic poem of antiquity.
The shushing of a woman or, at the very least, an early example of mansplaining is right there at the start of Western literature as the hero’s loyal wife is firmly put back in her place.
Cork South-Central: 4 seats
Taoiseach Micheál Martin is a youthful 60 but, if he stands down as Fianna Fáil leader during this term, then attention turns to whether he runs again. There’s no shortage of family members to fill his boots but passing the seat won’t be easy. Fianna Fáil Finance Minister Michael McGrath will be strong again. Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Sinn Féin have a guaranteed seat, so the second Fianna Fáil seat is the only question. Sinn Féin’s Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire will have a running mate in Carrigaline. Fine Gael’s Simon Coveney will have to manage the vote vastly better to bring in Senator Jerry Buttimer.
January 19, 2021 1:07 pm
Any attempt to seek a payback of up to €40 million under the Beef Exceptional Aid Measure (BEAM) scheme from farmers has been labelled “immoral” by independent TD Denis Naughten.
The TD reiterated his concern on the matter, highlighting that figures show the national suckler herd as a whole has already fallen by 6% between June 2018 and June 2020.
The Roscommon-Galway TD warned that up to 18,000 farmers could face a clawback of €40 million if they fail to achieve a 5% reduction of bovine livestock manure nitrogen under the scheme.
He said: “Suckler and beef farmers are already struggling to make ends meet.