The government will not be making any changes to current Level 5 restrictions for marts for a minimum of four weeks, according to independent TD Michael Healy-Rae.
In a statement today (Thursday, October 29), the Kerry TD said:
“Last night I received a phone call from Tánaiste Leo Varadkar’s office.
“I was informed that my views expressed in the Dáil last week in relation to the way marts were being forced to operate under Level 5 had been taken on board; but that the government were not going to be making any changes to this for a minimum of four weeks.
“I obviously am extremely disappointed that the government has failed to see common sense on this issue.
Unless the buyers are left in around the ring in the safe manner it was being done all along, it simply will not work with the online system.
“I have been inundated with calls from farmers and mart managers pleading with me to try and make the government to see sense but I’m afraid common sense is often very hard to come by,” deputy Healy-Rae said.
“However, I will continue to press this matter hard over the coming days and weeks, but, for now they don’t seem to be for changing which will have a detrimental effect on the agricultural sector as a whole,” the independent TD concluded.