Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers' Association (ICSA) sheep chair Seán McNamara has raised concerns over allegations that factory agents have been instructed not to buy lambs this week.

He said if the allegations were true, it would mean that factories were playing with fire.

“[The] ICSA has been getting reports that agents around the country are under orders not to buy lambs at marts over the next week.

"Tactics like this are underhanded in the extreme and if true are completely anti-competitive and possibly illegal,” he said.

...it leaves producers in a much-weakened position

“With supplies remaining tight, it is quite possible that processors are doing this in an attempt to funnel lambs directly into the factories as cheaply as possible and to the detriment of farmers.

"This is disgraceful, as it leaves producers in a much-weakened position, with no option but to accept what is on offer from the factories.”

Previous to this, concerns were raised when it was found that Irish Country Meats imported sheep carcases from the UK in what farm organisations believed was an attempt to pull the price of sheep.

McNamara concluded by saying that marts were a vital form of trading for farmers and they would be continuing to monitor the situation.