The president of the Irish Farmers' Association, Mr John Dillon, yesterday repeated his criticisms of Mr Alan Dukes and the Agri Vision 2015 committee Mr Dukes has been asked to chair by the Government.
Mr Dillon told the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture that the appointment of Mr Dukes, the former Fine Gael leader, to a committee to examine the future of agriculture was "amazing".
"A Fianna Fáil appointment of a former Fine Gael leader, an amazing Government appointment and an equally amazing role for the main Opposition party," Mr Dillon said.
He said that of the 17 "eminent people" appointed by the Minister for Agriculture to plan the future of Irish farming, only four were farmers, including himself.
"Imagine a Government-appointed committee to investigate the productivity of a professor being dominated by farmers, students, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Bord Bia and Teagasc: 13 in all and only four professors. That wouldn't wash," he said.
Mr Dillon said it would be the same as if Séamus Brennan attempted to appoint 13 passengers and only four workers to run Dublin Airport.
In a document circulated to the committee, Mr Dillon also alleged that some of the people appointed had a strong vested interest in pushing down farmgate prices.
Some may even have been involved in importing beef and other raw materials to compete directly with Irish farmers, he claimed.
Teagasc was also represented on the committee and it was his view that it would be better occupied putting its own house in order first. Other representatives on the committee included "a spin doctor" and the EPA.
Mr Dillon, who had heard a number of members of the committee defend Mr Dukes's appointment, said he had "a lot of regard for Mr Dukes but could not understand why he would take on a job to prop up Government policy".
"If Department of Agriculture reports could increase farm incomes, then Irish farmers would have the highest living standards in the world," he said.
Mr Dillon said the real agenda for the committee was an investigation into farm incomes and getting viable farmgate prices.
The committee should, he said, investigate the cost of food to the consumer and farm input costs and carry out a value-for-money audit of Bord Bia and Teagasc. Teagasc needed to be overhauled from top to bottom, he said.