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The electronic identification (EID) tagging scheme introduced by Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed has come in for strong criticism from the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association (ICSA).
Sean McNamara, sheep chair of the organisation, has insisted that the scheme has failed and farmers should be compensated.
“The feedback I’m getting from factories and marts is that they are not going to install EID tag readers or issue an electronic printout for sheep and lambs presented for slaughter, meaning farmers will still have to fill out dispatch books as normal,” McNamara said.
There is no justification for putting this expense on farmers
From 1 June, farmers will have to use EID tags on sheep on their farms and the minister previously stated that it will add to the exportability of Irish sheepmeat as it will add to traceability.
However, the move has been resisted by many farmers and organisations who say that it is a needless additional cost.
“In light of this, the ICSA is calling on Minister Creed to scrap compulsory EID tagging and compensate farmers for money wasted purchasing EID tags. There is no justification for putting this expense on farmers for a system that’s not working,” McNamara said.
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