Hayes to succeed McEntee at Agriculture

Tipperary South TD Tom Hayes has been appointed Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture to replace the late Meath East TD, Shane McEntee.

Deputy Hayes was a close friend of Minister McEntee and was director of elections in the by-election which saw him first elected in 2005.

There had been widespread speculation around the time of the recent by-election that Meath West TD  Damien English might be appointed to the position.

Macra na Feirme National President, Kieran O’Dowd, has welcomed the appointment of Mr Hayes as the new Minister of State for Forestry, Horticulture, the Greyhound Industry and Food Safety.

He said, “I look forward to working with Minister Hayes who has considerable experience in the industry. He comes to the role in a crucial time and I welcome him to the position and look forward to working with him on issues of importance to young farmers.'

The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association also welcomed the appointment. 

Its president, Gabriel Gilmartin said: “I would like to wish Mr Hayes the best in his new role and ICSA looks forward to working with him for the betterment of Irish agriculture into the future.”

He called for Mr Hayes to be deployed to deal with the ongoing fall-out from the fodder crisis.

Mr Gilmartin said: “ICSA wants a task force set up, which could be chaired by Minister Hayes, to deal with fodder-related issues including cash flow problems on farms, securing enough feed for next winter and managing the damage done to land, as well as dealing with mental health issues in the farming community.”

IFA president John Bryan congratulated Deputy Hayes on his appointment.