The Department of Agriculture could rent additional French lairage space in the national interest to alleviate the pressure on calf exports this spring, it has been suggested.

Live trade representatives made several suggestions to help streamline calf exports at an Oireachtas agriculture committee hearing on Tuesday.

ICOS livestock executive Ray Doyle said that resting lairages were simple buildings with no need for IT systems or inspection facilities.

“Because I believe it’s a national interest issue, if the Department of Agriculture could, in simple terms, rent a lairage or even large areas of sheds, that would do to be able to ensure that these animals have disembarked the truck,” said Doyle.

Live exporter Seamus Scallan of the Wicklow Calf Company told the Oireachtas that tightening legislation on journey times had ruled out the use of a lairage four hours away from Cherbourg Port.

“I would like to see the Department of Agriculture look up this lairage four hours away,” said Scallan.

He wants it to be used in contingency plannings – especially if a backlog of calves exceeds the 4,000hd daily capacity at Cherbourg after a period of bad weather.

Both speakers accepted that it would be difficult to expect French lairage owners to invest in extra capacity for the six- to eight-week peak Irish calf season.

Asked by Fianna Fáil TD Jackie Cahill if calves could sail to other continental ports, Scallan said ferry companies catered mostly for other traffic and were not interested in sailing to other ports only for calf trucks.

He suggested that farming organisations and live exporters could get together to fund extra lairage capacity in Cherbourg.

The discussion came as the Department of Agriculture and Irish Ferries continued to fail to clarify conflicting information they have provided on ferry sailings and capacity for calf numbers from March.