Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 3 November 2020
1537. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will review the conditions applicable to mart sales at present and enable the presence of a limited number of buyers at the ringside properly and appropriately spaced in accordance with public health regulations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33485/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraSince the beginning of the Covid crisis, my Department has worked intensively, in cooperation with marts representative organisations, to ensure that marts may remain in operation. My Department has adapted the conditions under which marts must operate since April, to reflect the various measures introduced by the Government to stop the spread of Covid, and to allow marts to continue to operate.
I would like to commend the representative organisations for this good and necessary cooperation. I would like to commend also the marts themselves, and farmers around the country, for the resilience they have shown in the face of Covid, and the speed with which they have adapted to the new circumstances.
On 19th October, the Taoiseach announced that the whole country would move to Level 5 of the Framework for Living with COVID-19 for a period of 6 weeks, starting midnight on Wednesday, the 21st . The Taoiseach has called on us all to work together to suppress the virus, and to reopen as much of our society and economy as possible when it is safe to do so. The core responsibility of this Government is to protect lives and to protect public health, while also protecting livelihoods and supporting the wider economy and society.
Protecting the agrifood sector and people in rural communities is at the centre of my Department’s direction, on 20th October, that all marts may continue, but to conduct sales using online platforms only. My Department will continue to monitor the situation, and to adapt measures applied to marts in line with public health guidelines. There are no plans at present to allow in-person attendance of buyers at sales at livestock marts, while Level 5 is in force. Buyers may make arrangements to view the stock available for sale by appointment with mart management.
Marts have been using online mart sales systems since April. From a position where few marts had online systems in place in April, there has been a rapid take up of the new systems by marts over recent months. Currently, the vast majority of marts have online systems in place and are operating through online platforms. Thousands of cattle and sheep have been bought and sold successfully using the various online platforms. As with any new technology, there have been some glitches and these have been dealt with as they arise.
This is undoubtedly a challenging time. My Department is closely monitoring the situation and will plan for a return to physical marts in line with public health guidelines when it is safe to do so. We are seeing some positive aspects of online sales at marts.
Online sales are reaching a much higher number of farmers, dealers, and agents than sales on marts premises did, even prior to the start of Covid restrictions. On Saturday 24th October, the online sales companies reported to my officials that, at one stage, more than 40,000 people were logged into online mart sales.
Since the introduction of Level 5, during the first five days on which marts were in operation using online sales (the Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Monday and Tuesday), cattle throughput in marts came to 36,034 head – this compares to 42,918 head in the corresponding five day period in 2019. This means that, despite the undoubted disruption caused by moving to Level 5, mart throughput of cattle was 84% of the figures for that period in 2019. This demonstrates that marts have been able to continue to operate and farmers have been able to continue to buy and sell, thanks to the commitment and resourcefulness of the marts involved.
In conclusion, I would like to mention the wide range of supports for businesses which the Government has put in place to help them through Covid. Agrifood businesses, including marts, are eligible for these supports, which are set out on the Gov.ie website.
