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With cattle, sheep and pig being disrupted in at least six meat plants over the last fortnight, Veterinary Ireland and the Department of Agriculture are in a standoff.
The row centres on what Veterinary Ireland says is a severe shortage of Temporary Veterinary Inspectors (TVIs) in factories.
The problem stems from the moratorium on recruitment imposed by the Department of Agriculture in 2011. Since then, some vets have retired from the TVI panel and more are deceased. They have not been replaced. TVI work is worth around €13m per year to the vets involved.
Mediation talks between Veterinary Ireland and the Department of Agriculture resulted in the parties reaching an agreement on 21 November 2018. However, this broke down in early December, when the Department pulled out of the agreement, citing objections from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.
Finbarr Murphy, chief executive of Veterinary Ireland, said that the agreement reached in November would have resolved all of its concerns about TVIs and recruitment of new vets.
Litigation
It would also, he said, have been expected to end a long-running litigation case taken by Veterinary Ireland on behalf of five vets who were employed by the now-closed Galtee Meats in Co Cork.
“The Department of Agriculture pulled out, citing objections by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, and there has been no meaningful engagement by the Department of Agriculture since then,” Murphy told the Irish Farmers Journal.
Murphy refused to give details of the agreement reached in November, saying it was confidential.
He said that Veterinary Ireland was prepared to give any assurances or clarification that the Department of Agriculture or Department of Public Expenditure and Reform needed, “but the principles of the 21 November agreement need to be maintained”.
How long will the dispute last?
“We would like to see resolved as quickly as possible,” the Veterinary Ireland CEO told the Irish Farmers Journal.
“We are available for discussion,” he said. “We are disappointed by the lack of meaningful engagement from the Department of Agriculture since 11 December.”
Reacting to claims by Meat Industry Ireland that its factories were caught in the crossfire, the vets representative said: “TVIs are directly employed by the Department of Agriculture and I would encourage Meat Industry Ireland to encourage the Department to meaningfully engage with the mediator to resolve the issue.”
Welfare on farms
Meat Industry Ireland has claimed that animal welfare was at risk on some farms as a result of the vets’ actions.
Responding, Murphy said: “The Department of Agriculture has responsibility for animal welfare and we would like to see it engage meaningfully with us to resolve the issue.”
The Department of Agriculture has been contacted for a response.
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