The Dáil has heard a cross-party call for an independent enquiry into alleged pollution that affected the land and livestock of Co. Kilkenny farmer Dan Brennan over many years.

Yesterday evening (Tuesday, November 7), Fianna Fáil TDs Jackie Cahill and John McGuinness, Sinn Féin TD Matt Cathy, and independent TD Michael Fitzmaurice all made the call for an enquiry.

The Ceann Comhairle, Seán Ó Fearghaíl, broke from usual Dáil proceedings to allow extra speaking time for the four TDs to raise their concerns.

Issues such as livestock performance and dying trees have been ongoing on Dan Brennan’s farm for over 30 years since 1990.

Brennan appeared before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine in November of last year to speak about the range of issues his farm has faced.

The farmer has alleged that, following the closure of a nearby brick factory in 2008, his farm began to recover.

Following his appearance at the committee last year, the committee asked that issues of environmental contamination at Brennan’s farm be debated in the Dáil and Seanad.

Speaking after the four TDs raised the issue again yesterday, Cahill (the chairperson of the Oireachtas agriculture committee) said that it was “a very rare occurrence in Dáil Éireann”.

“Deputies McGuinness, Fitzmaurice, Carthy and myself have all been very moved by the evidence presented to us by Castlecomer farmer Dan Brennan on the alleged pollution that took place on his farm over a long number of years,” Cahill said.

“I have been working with Dan for the last couple of years in my capacity as chairperson of the Oireachtas agriculture committee. Dan and his colleagues previously made a presentation in front of the committee where he outlined the years of struggle he has experienced as a result of the alleged pollution on his farm by a neighbouring factory,” the Tipperary TD added.

Cahill went on: “I called on [Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue] to seek answers to a number of questions that remain outstanding, namely: Why did the foliage and trees on Dan’s farm fail during the years the factory was operational?; why did bones grow in his cattle’s tissues and kidneys?; And why did the milk yield of his cattle double when the factory closed?

“Dan was accused at times of being a bad farmer, when any farmer worth their salt knew this not to be the case. This has since been clearly proven to be untrue and that Dan was not at fault for what happened on his farm over those many years.

“The four TDs that stood in the Dáil last night are fully united behind Dan Brennan and his family. We want answers and we want justice for this man. We are calling on the minister to establish a fully independent enquiry into this matter so that Dan gets the answers and justice he deserves,” Cahill added.

Responding to the joint call by the four deputies, Minister McConalogue told the Dáil that no evidence had been presented that would justify reopening an investigation on animal health and environmental concerns on Brennan’s farm.

An investigation, led by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine’s veterinary laboratory, concluded 13 years ago.

That investigation found that there was no evidence of environmental contamination of Brennan’s farm that would have caused a lack of animal thriving and other issues.

However, under pressure from the four deputies, Minister McConalogue committed to “review and read the files [on the original investigation] further”.

The four TDs said that the original investigation was inadequate, claiming that there were inconsistencies in data presented by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the factory’s emissions of cadmium, a poisonous metal that was detected on Brennan’s farm in 2004.