A Kerry TD has claimed that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) endangered the lives of some hill sheep famers during the recent cold snap.
Deputy Michael Healy-Rae said that he appreciates the work done by DAFM officials and inspectors.
However, the independent TD said the department made “a grave mistake” last week in insisting that farmers bring down sheep from snow-covered mountains for the purpose of an inspection.
The TD said that Kerry Mountain Rescue Team had advised people not to go up hills and mountains in heavy snow.
Healy-Rae claimed that the department refused requests from the Kerry farmers to defer the inspection for a week when the weather would have improved.
This resulted in farmers and their dogs going up into snow drifts to round up their animals, according to the TD.
“They could have lost their own lives, they could have lost their dogs, they could have driven the sheep into the [snow] drifts,” Healy-Rae said.
“I had one man who inadvertently found himself up to his belly button in snow. Now you tell me that any man or woman should have to do that. That’s wrong.
“Any inspector that will ever tell a farmer [to] go up a hill in those conditions again, I wouldn’t be long asking them the question, would they like to do it themselves?
“Would they like to put on a pair of wellingtons and have the snow going in over the wellingtons and the water and the wet? And the heavy fog maybe coming down upon them and the cold going into the marrow of their bones?
“All just to comply with a scheme that could wait for a couple of days,” the TD said.
“Two or three days later, it [the snow] was all gone. This is not the Swiss Alps, it doesn’t stay there for too long. Common sense has to prevail.
“And all they [farmers] are trying to do is make a living and here we have this type of situation being foisted upon them.
“That’s why I was upset and that’s why I was cross. But we have to move on from that now and make sure it doesn’t happen again and that’s all I’m asking,” Healy-Rae said.
DAFM
The Kerry TD raised the issue with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue through a parliamentary question.
“The EU regulations governing the direct payment schemes and rural development measures require my department to conduct inspections to ensure compliance with scheme eligibility criteria and cross compliance requirements,” the minister stated.
“These inspections, including cross compliance, are mandatory and there are minimum numbers and types of inspections that must take place annually.”
McConalogue said “the inspection of sheep flocks is a necessary component of animal identification and registration checks for animal traceability purposes”.
“Inspections of sheep flocks are also required under the Sheep Welfare Scheme and inspections in respect of this scheme are currently ongoing nationwide,” he added.
“Such inspections are a legal requirement and must be carried out within certain timeframes and to the required standards.
“These inspections require officials to count all sheep present on the holding and to also conduct checks in relation to the maintenance of records and ear tagging.
“My department’s aim is to expedite payments to farmers and to avoid disallowances at EU level,” McConalogue said.
The minister said that in line with commitment laid out in the Farmers’ Charter, his department will take account of the timing of inspections relative to lambing and when sheep move to and from hills for routine management.
He added that department officials provide the maximum notification and tolerances allowed and “do take account of the unique circumstances in the hill areas”.
“My department’s inspecting officers are fully aware of the difficulties that can be encountered, including the poor weather conditions, and do their utmost to take this into account when planning on farm inspection work,” McConalogue said.