SOCIAL Democrats leader Holly Cairns has accused the Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue of being ‘asleep of the wheel’ while abuses of animals have damaged the dairy sector.
The Cork West TD was commenting following a recent RTÉ Investigates programme focusing on cruelty and mistreatment inflicted on calves in onward travel in Europe as part of the live export trade.
‘This Minister has been asleep at the wheel while gross abuses of calves in the dairy sector has continued,’ said Deputy Cairns.
‘Last year, the Department of Agriculture launched an investigation into cruelty in the sector after another investigation into this issue. Incredibly, that investigation is still ongoing with no action having been taken and it is now, 15 months later, too late for prosecutions.
‘The harrowing scenes we witnessed on RTE, outlining horrific abuse of calves, must now serve as another wake-up call for the Government.
‘What has the Minister been doing for more than a year? The deplorable conditions that calves – many too young to be transported – are subject to on long journeys are utterly unacceptable.
‘At a bare minimum, we have a responsibility not to transport animals into countries where we know conditions are not up to standard.
‘We have absolutely no clarity on how many Irish cattle are being transported to Israel, as RTÉ has revealed they are effectively being trafficked and disguised as Romanian or Croatian imports.’
Deputy Cairns said the live export trade ‘ultimately’ needs to be phased out, and called for an increased focus on breeding practices, with vat cuts on sexed semen.
‘Farmers do not want to be put in the position of having to export large quantities of bull calves, but this is an inevitable by-product of Government policy to continue to encourage intensification within the dairy
sector.
‘There has been a surge in the number of bull calves – largely viewed as valueless waste products – born in Ireland each year since milk quotas were abolished in 2015.
‘The use of sexed semen can increase dairy female replacements and reduce the numbers of dairy bull calves born.
‘The Social Democrats have previously called for the removal of vat from sexed semen. We also need to see more breeding practices to ensure that cattle are not being bred for a single purpose.
‘It is beyond unacceptable that the Minister has dragged his heels on acting on the abuse of animals.’
Meanwhile Independent Ireland leader and Cork South West TD Michael Collins said Irish cattle farms are more regulated than any industry in Ireland.
‘Irish farmers have the highest animal welfare standards on earth, play a critical role in the Irish economy, and are the bedrock of rural Ireland. If another EU country’s authorities are neglecting their duty of care for Irish animals, that is a serious matter for the European Commission to investigate, but it has no bearing on Irish farmers whatsoever.’
Deputy Collins added: ‘If a farmer from West Cork sells a calf to a Romanian farmer, and then that Romanian farmer mistreats the calf and later sells it to an Israeli company months later, how on earth is any of it linked to the Irish dairy or beef industry? If a man buys a knife in a Clonakilty grocery store and stabs someone in France, is the Clonakilty grocery store somehow responsible? Any rational person would say ‘no, that’s ridiculous.’’
