A shortage of Regional Veterinary Office (RVO) vets available to work weekends has emerged as a hurdle for sheep breeding societies arranging weekend sales of export eligible stock, the Department of Agriculture has confirmed.

The news comes after the Naas RVO was unable to provide an official vet to inspect and certify sheep for export at last Saturday’s Irish Charollais Sheep Society sale in Blessington, where three sheep were bought for export to the North.

These sheep were kept at the mart over the weekend, before a Department vet could inspect the sheep on Monday and certify them as eligible for export.

Blessington mart is popular for societies hosting Saturday breeding sheep sales. Weekend sales allow farmers working off-farm an opportunity to view stock and bid without having to take time off work.

A vet has been arranged to stand in for the Irish Suffolk Sheep Society’s South of Ireland branch premier show and export sale in Blessington this Friday and Saturday, the Irish Farmers Journal understands.

However, this is a short-term fix for the bank holiday weekend, rather than being a longer-term solution, which breed societies have stated that they are keen to find with the RVO.

Resources under pressure

The Department stated that the show season places “increased demand on RVO resources” and that it has engaged with farmers and organisations to plan around this demand.

Department veterinary inspectors are not entitled to overtime pay, but they may be eligible to claim a fixed unsocial hours payment for attending to duties outside of their normal working hours, such as certifying sheep at weekend sales.

The payment for doing so is currently set at €197.04 for up to four hours additional attendance.