Disruption at meat factories is ongoing as a dispute between the Department and Veterinary Ireland rumbles on. There was ongoing contact between the two parties over Christmas, but a spokesperson for Veterinary Ireland said it was “nothing substantive”.
“It is disappointing that there has been no meaningful engagement from the Department,” said Veterinary Ireland CEO Finbarr Murphy.
“There are no plans to step up the action, we want the mediation process to work.”
A spokesperson for the Department said it “continues to engage with all the relevant parties in an effort to resolve this issue as soon as possible”.
The row centres on what Veterinary Ireland says is a severe shortage of Temporary Veterinary Inspectors (TVIs) in factories. Mediation talks resulted in the parties reaching an agreement on 21 November 2018. However, this broke down in early December, when the Department pulled out of the agreement, citing objections from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.
TVI work is worth around €13m per year to vets involved.
Meat Industry Ireland (MII) has criticised the ongoing disruption to normal processing operations.
“Plants have been unable to undertake scheduled processing activity and others are forced to operate at restricted levels compared to normal throughput. Animal deliveries have had to be turned back or cancelled,” a spokesperson for MII said.
Read more
Vets v Department of Agriculture: what’s the row about?
Kill down 50% in factories due to vet dispute
Disruption at meat factories is ongoing as a dispute between the Department and Veterinary Ireland rumbles on. There was ongoing contact between the two parties over Christmas, but a spokesperson for Veterinary Ireland said it was “nothing substantive”.
“It is disappointing that there has been no meaningful engagement from the Department,” said Veterinary Ireland CEO Finbarr Murphy.
“There are no plans to step up the action, we want the mediation process to work.”
A spokesperson for the Department said it “continues to engage with all the relevant parties in an effort to resolve this issue as soon as possible”.
The row centres on what Veterinary Ireland says is a severe shortage of Temporary Veterinary Inspectors (TVIs) in factories. Mediation talks resulted in the parties reaching an agreement on 21 November 2018. However, this broke down in early December, when the Department pulled out of the agreement, citing objections from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.
TVI work is worth around €13m per year to vets involved.
Meat Industry Ireland (MII) has criticised the ongoing disruption to normal processing operations.
“Plants have been unable to undertake scheduled processing activity and others are forced to operate at restricted levels compared to normal throughput. Animal deliveries have had to be turned back or cancelled,” a spokesperson for MII said.
Read more
Vets v Department of Agriculture: what’s the row about?
Kill down 50% in factories due to vet dispute
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