Victor Boyhan on Brazil Beef Report and Cataract Surgery Backlog
Victor Boyhan raised concerns about a report by the IFA and the Farmers' Journal into Brazil and beef, warning of light-touch regulation and unfair market access under Mercosur. He also highlighted a backlog of over 7,500 people waiting for cataract surgery in Ireland and called for a parliamentary debate and for the issue to be raised with the Minister for Health.
Brazil investigation report
The IFA and the Farmers' Journal produced an extensive fact-finding report into Brazil and beef which Victor Boyhan commended. He described the Brazil Investigation Commission report as very serious, saying it sets out clear concerns and alarming findings about meat and market practice.
Regulation and market access
Boyhan said the report highlights a problematic "level playing pitch" for Irish and European meat producers versus Brazil, pointing to light-touch regulation and issues with access under Mercosur. He emphasised the authority and detailed nature of the delegation that carried out the mission.
Call for parliamentary discussion
Boyhan noted the matter was discussed at a private meeting of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food and referenced Sinn Féin Deputy Martin Kenny speaking on it. He recommended the sectoral committee examine the booklet, urged rural senators and TDs to read it, and said he would forward materials and ask colleagues to raise the issue in their parliamentary groups.
Cataract surgery backlog
Boyhan highlighted that over 7,500 people need cataract surgery, describing the procedure as simple and often deliverable quickly. He cited that over 3,600 people in Galway alone are waiting for eye care, referenced a local report led by Councillor Clodagh Higgins on Galway FM, and noted his experience as a former director of the National Treatment Purchase Fund.
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I'd like to raise two issues. The IFA and the Farmers' Journal have to be commended on a very extensive report that you may have heard and read about in the media in the last two or three days. And the report is into the investigation in relation to Brazil and beef. I'm not going to quote extensively from it. I think there are very serious concerns about meat. The Mercosur, the access to the market. But what I can say is that it was a very extensive fact-finding mission. It is very serious in terms of a level playing pitch about what the Irish meat producers, the European meat producers have to deal with versus what's happening in Brazil. The light touch regulation, the experience of this group that went out from the IFA and the Farmers' Journal and other people with authority in this area who are also detailed in this report. So I'd commend this report, the report into the Brazil Investigation Commission by the Irish Farmers' Journal and the IFA. It's very clear. It sets out its concerns. It has to be alarming. And I know that we have just come from a private meeting of the Joint Oireachters' Committee on Agriculture and Food and I know that Sinn Féin Deputy Martin Kenny has indicated and spoken on it that we will discuss it. I think that as a sectoral committee, it is important that it's discussed there. But I think for rural senators and TDs, it's important that they're fully aware of it. And if they haven't got this booklet, I would recommend it. The next thing I'd like to raise is the issue of over 7,500 people need cataract surgery in Ireland. That is quite a simple procedure. I'm a former director of the National Treatment Purchase Fund. I know how they handled it in the past. And a lot of these treatments can be done quickly and timely. But there is a problem of a extensive group. What I'm particularly concerned was brought to my attention, indeed, led by a colleague of yours, Councillor Clodagh Higgins, in Galway FM in the last week, and they're cited. Over 3,000 of the breakdown of this, over 3,600 are waiting for eye care treatment in Galway alone. Just to make it very focused, very home and relevant to you. And I think it's something that really is appalling, considering elderly people who physically cannot see the ground in front of them and their disadvantage. And we're trying to support elderly people. So I'd ask that we might have a debate on eye care because I think it's a specific niche that we need to look at. And I would ask maybe that you might, yourself, and I'll send on the stuff to you that I have today, you might raise it with your own contacts, within your own parliamentary party, and with your Minister for Health. Thank you. Thank you.
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