Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 12 Jun 2001

Vol. 537 No. 5

Adjournment Debate. - Livestock Marts.

Mr. Connaughton

I understand from the expert group that the marts will open next Mon day, and that the permit system introduced to control foot and mouth disease is being lifted. I believe there is also an exemption to the retention period of 30 days for cattle exports. I welcome that part of it, as does every farmer and co-operative livestock mart in the country.

As the Minister of State well knows, there is a large amount of store cattle, particularly in the area we come from, as no farmer has been able to sell a tail since last February. There is a great need to create a competitive environment to allow the export of live cattle.

I have had several phone calls this evening from buyers regarding the export of cattle, and this is the issue I will address now. It is one thing to get farmers to bring their cattle in to the marts, but it is another matter altogether to get people to buy them. I do not hold a candle for livestock dealers as such, I have no reason to do so, except to say that in my experience nine out of ten of them are fine, decent people that have a job to do. A number of them dirtied their bibs, and they should be ashamed of themselves. I hope that the law will take its course. I refer to the bona fide people that are part of the jigsaw that makes up the cattle trade.

As yet, there are no buyers registered with the Department, and they have not been asked to register. While it is now a legal requirement to register, the Department have not implemented it. Will the Minister give an undertaking in this House tonight, that people who are bona fide dealers who meet the specifications in every other respect, will be allowed to operate as normal next Monday morning? It will be a shambles if they cannot, and the Minister knows that as well as I do.

Will the Minister clarify the position with regard to the lairage allowed within the permit and licensing system? If an exporter from Italy wants some 300 to 400 cattle in a hurry they are collected from up to ten or 15 different marts in the same week. To collect the stock, are people who normally buy cattle allowed to use their own premises to batch them for the ship at Rosslare? Any unreasonable impediment would have a detrimental effect on the trade on top of the inevitable departmental rules and regulations, such as TB and brucellosis testing, CMMS, the contact with the Department and the Department inspector on site at the mart. Will there be any extra restrictions next Monday morning?

I assume the Government is committed to the trade in live cattle, irrespective of the huge concern that has been expressed by interest groups both in Europe and here to stop it. It will be a very bad day for Ireland and Irish farmers, the same as it would be for any other sector in Irish business life if they could not export their products for sale. If the European Union means anything then it should allow for a common market where our goods and services can be traded with our partners. Will the Minister give some indication in his reply as to when the sheep sales will recommence?

Minister of State at the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands (Éamon Ó Cuív)

Both I and my ministerial colleagues have, on an ongoing basis, kept both Houses of the Oireachtas informed of progress in relation to foot and mouth disease. On a number of occasions we have been obliged to introduce a range of new or developing controls designed to keep foot and mouth disease out or to prevent its spread after the outbreak in Proleek in County Louth which was confirmed on 22 March.

I am pleased that in recent weeks the tenor of these contributions has changed somewhat, and that we have been in a position to announce a series of adjustments to the control measures adopted, which take account of the gradual reduction in the risk of foot and mouth disease.

These adjustments have been adopted on the basis of advice received from the expert group with which all Deputies are, by now, quite familiar and have, in a controlled way, allowed for the phased resumption of normal activities in a manner calculated to balance the residual foot and mouth disease risk with the real need to begin to resume normal activity to the greatest degree possible.

In this context, my colleague the Minister, Deputy Walsh, has today announced the latest in a series of adjustments in the foot and mouth disease controls on the basis of the recommendations of the expert group which met this morning.

I am confident these latest adjustments will go some considerable way towards facilitating normal trading activities and live exports which are so essential to provide the market balance needed by producers in Ireland, and which will continue to be an essential feature of the livestock trade here. The following adjustments have today been made in relation to cattle: as and from 18 June, marts may reopen; multiple pick-ups and destinations will be allowed in respect of movements to marts, export points and factories; the 30 day holding period for sales through marts and for farm to farm movements will be retained, but will not apply in respect of cattle going for export through approved assembly centres; and the permit system for farm to farm movements and for movements to Northern Ireland will be retained.

In addition, I confirm that the permit regime is being discontinued in respect of movement of cattle to marts for slaughter, within holdings and for export except for exports to Northern Ireland from centres which do not have CMMS facilities. I also confirm the removal of the "7 day" rule in respect of sales after buying-in, and the removal of limitations on pick-ups and multiple destinations. I am aware that these latter limitations were causing particular difficulties for farmers in the more remote areas of the country where it was simply not practical for many farmers to transport economic loads over long distances to marts or factories.

However, the existing regimes for sheep and pig movements are being retained for the time being. In this regard, permits will issue only in respect of movement to slaughter and on welfare grounds, and for export also in the case of pigs. The House will be aware that in the case of these species, there are particular risks in sheep because of the difficulty in the clinical diagnosis of the disease and the length of the incubation period, and in pigs because of the scale on which they shed the virus.

These controls will continue to be reviewed in the light of the ongoing programme of serology testing which has been under way since 10 May. I draw the attention of the House to the continuing incidence of FMD in Britain, which constitutes an ongoing risk to this country. I cannot stress enough the need for continued vigilance, best practice in relation to all aspects of animal husbandry and the maintenance of effective disinfectant measures. My Department will shortly give further guidance to, inter alia, farmers, marts, and meat plants on bio-security arrangements and other aspects of their operations, designed to protect against animal diseases, and will hold discussions with marts to ensure the necessary arrangements are in place in advance of the reopening of marts on 18 June.

We have made huge progress. Every week we can proceed in a positive way but that is all contingent on making sure there are no further outbreaks. It is always a balancing act and the old Latin saying, festina lente, is certainly true in this case.