Meat processors have been told not to slaughter tomorrow (Wednesday, October 14) if veterinary and technical duties cannot be carried out due to the expected public sector strike.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has said that it may not be in a position to provide its "full range of services".

The department outlined advice for different stakeholders in the sector who may be impacted by department staff going on strike.

Meat plants with a permanent department staff presence, who carry out official controls on a risk basis, have been told not slaughter tomorrow where there is insufficient staff cover, as a result of the industrial action, to ensure veterinary and technical duties are carried out to meet legislative requirements.

Cutting and boning halls attached to these slaughter plants may continue to operate in line with their conditions of approval.

Plants which are approved to export to the US, including boning halls and cutting plants, are required to have a department presence daily.

Therefore, they may not produce any product eligible for US export tomorrow.

They may produce product for export to the EU, and non-EU countries which do not require a daily department presence.

All other meat processing plants which do not require a permanent department presence may continue to operate in line with their conditions of approval.

Agriland is aware of a meat processor which has informed its suppliers that it will not kill sheep tomorrow, advising suppliers to call the factory if they intended to supply sheep tomorrow.

The Department of Agriculture also said that veterinary export certification for live animals and animal products or by-products will likely not be available on October 14.

As well as that, from midnight tonight to midnight tomorrow night (in other words, for 24 hours tomorrow), sanitary and phytosanitary inspections of consignments of food, plants and animals at Irish border control posts will not be completed.

The department manages four border control posts for the inspection of animal and plant material entering the country. These are Dublin Airport, Dublin Port, Rosslare Europort, and Shannon Airport.

The requirement for controls on goods that require sanitary and phytosanitary inspection before entering the EU remains in place, despite industrial action.

Therefore, goods subject to these controls will not be released from the border control posts until after the strike.