The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) has hit out at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) over its “inaction” on a dispute between knackeries and rendering plants.
IFA Animal Health Committee chair TJ Maher said that it is “astounding” to think that the department has paid over €10 million in the last three years for animals to be collected, yet this has not guaranteed a service for farmers.
He claimed that DAFM has “knowingly allowed farmers to be used as pawns by knackeries and renderers in their now frequent disputes”.
DAFM
Maher said that the lack of action by the department in solving the row between fallen animal collectors and renders is “beyond unacceptable”.
“Farmers are the victims in all of this as a direct result of the department of agriculture failure to address the glaring shortcomings of the system they have presided over for the last number of years,” he said.
Earlier this year, the IFA met with senior DAFM officials to highlight the problems with the system and called for a complete review of the structures in place.
However, Maher claimed that DAFM failed to take any action and refused to implement the maximum fee structure that is a condition of the up to €4 million annual subvention they pay to collectors.
“This incompetence has directly contributed to this issue now on farms where farmers are unable to have fallen animals collected.
“The only legal means of disposal of fallen animals is through a service which the department of agriculture has failed to maintain.
“This is causing huge problems and jeopardising the health and welfare of the remaining animals,” he said.
“The department of agriculture is negligent in their responsibilities in this area and has offered no advice or alternative solutions for farmers to have their animals disposed of. The minister cannot allow this debacle to continue.
“Farmers with fallen animals to be collected should contact their local Department office and seek direction from them on how they can have the animal legally disposed of from their farm,” Maher added.
Dispute
Sources in the knackery sector have told Agriland that rendering plants in the Republic of Ireland stopped accepting material from knackeries for rendering since December 4.
It is claimed that this is due to the knackeries’ inability to pay the cost of rendering, which increased a number of months ago.
Last week, a senator called on Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue to intervene in the ongoing dispute.
Fine Gael Senator Tim Lombard told the Seanad that “all knackeries in Ireland are effectively closed” as a result of the issue.
“We have a build-up of fallen animals in rural Ireland. I spoke to individuals in west Cork earlier about the fact that more than 35 calls were made to one knackery.
“The owner does not have the ability to go out and pick these animals up because he has no place to take them,” he said.