The ongoing disruption caused by the standoff between temporary veterinary inspectors (TVIs) and the Department of Agriculture could result in the slaughtering of cull sows being stopped next week, according to the IFA.

The association has urged Veterinary Ireland to cease its disruption of meat factories and to re-enter talks with the Department.

The IFA has said the problem is now most acute in pig factories and that there will be further implications the following week if the matter is not resolved.

IFA president Joe Healy said: “It is totally unacceptable that farmers are being used as a pawn in a chess game between Veterinary Ireland and the Minister for Agriculture.”

On Friday, IFA pig chair Tom Hogan told the Irish Farmers Journal the backlog in the factories is causing serious stress among pig farmers.

“There are also major cashflow problems, especially when feed prices have increased so much,” he said.

No plans to step up the action

Veterinary Ireland has no plans to step up the action in factories, its CEO Finbarr Murphy told the Irish Farmers Journal last week. “We want the mediation process to work,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Department of Agriculture has 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 TVIs in factories – stemming from the moratorium on recruitment imposed by the Department of Agriculture in 2011.

Since 2011, some vets have retired from the TVI panel and more have passed away. They have not been replaced. Mediation talks between both parties broke down in December and since then TVIs have been working on a work-to-rule basis and not covering additional shifts that would be needed to maintain the regular work and throughput in some factories.

Factories

The body representing the factories, Meat Industry Ireland (MII), has criticised the ongoing disruption, with a spokesperson saying plants have been unable to undertake scheduled processing activity and others have been forced to operate at restricted levels compared to normal throughput.

“Animal deliveries have had to be turned back or cancelled,” the spokesperson said.

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