Minister for Agriculture Mary Coughlan has refused to appear before an Oireachtas committee to discuss the Irish Sugar closure and the collapse of the Irish sugar beet industry.
The call to appear was made in March by Fine Gael Carlow/Kilkenny senator Fergal Browne before Greencore's decision to close its Mallow plant, with the loss of 250 full-time jobs, was announced.
In a letter last month to the Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food, a ministerial official said Greencore was creating a restructuring plan after consultations with beet growers.
"The Minister will be required to make determinations on the restructuring plan. In the circumstances, the Minister does not consider that it would be appropriate for her to attend," the official wrote.
However, Mr Browne said the Minister should be required to outline her plans for a €45 million diversification fund available to pay for the conversion of the Carlow and Mallow plants.
"In my view, this is a sign that the Minister is out of her depth on the beet industry and is not willing to answer questions on it.
"Is it the case that, at this stage, the Minister is only there to rubberstamp decisions that Greencore makes and has no view of her own?" said Mr Browne.
