Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 January 2021
1154. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the operational curtailments that will be placed on marts during the new Covid-19 restrictions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1524/21]
View answerOn 30th December, An Taoiseach announced that the entire country would move to Level 5 restrictions under the Framework for Living with Covid19.
Protecting the agri-food sector and people in rural communities is my key priority. Consequently, there should be no public access to sales rings, in line with Level 5 measures. Marts may conduct sales using online platforms or through a tender process. Buyers are permitted to view animals in marts before sale, socially distanced and by prior appointment with the relevant mart. Marts must prevent the congregation of members of the public in the mart car park or at entry ways into mart buildings. My Department will continue to monitor the situation, and to adapt measures applied to marts in line with public health guidelines
Throughput from 22nd October to 30th November shows how well marts and farmers adapted to sales under Level 5 measures: in that period cattle throughput was at 84% of the comparable period for 2019 (186,317 v 221,234 head), and sheep throughput was at 83% of the comparable period for 2019 (135,881 v 164,330 sheep).
In addition to the high throughput figures, it was reported that clearance rates were good and prices were robust.
