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Dáil
‹ Order of Business

Live calf export

Summary

Deputy Mattie McGrath raised fears that there was no export transport available for calves amid Brexit-related pressures on agriculture. Minister Simon Coveney said live exports were active, that the sector was mainly commercial, and that several viable proposals had been put forward.

In the programme for Government, there was much aspirational talk of supporting our agriculture industry. Goodness knows, with the onset of Brexit and the hiccups we have seen, it is in a perilous state. There is a crisis with every dairy herd in the country having all hands on deck delivering calves, feeding them, looking after them and giving them an early start. There is no export vehicle. The Irish Farmers Association and all the other farming organisations are very concerned that there is no ship ready to transport these calves to markets abroad. The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine is as láthair but the Tánaiste, Deputy Coveney, knows a small bit about this and he might have been on a dairy farm once or twice. This is a serious issue and not a laughing matter. Will the Government ensure a facility is available to farmers and exporters so they can transport calves with full documentation safely to overseas markets? It is beyond urgent.

Comment on this

I take it the Deputy raised this with regard to the programme for Government.

Comment on this

Of course. The calves are not in it but the aspirations are.

Comment on this
Simon Coveney Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Fine Gael

I will happily take up the invitation to speak a bit about farming. Live export markets are something that the Minister, Deputy Creed, has done much to facilitate. We are seeing a very active live export market now.

Comment on this

There is a particular problem relating to dairy herds. The Department has encouraged the live export of calves to appropriate markets, but ultimately this would be a commercial operation run by the private sector. A number of proposals have been put on the table that are more than viable propositions.

Comment on this