Ann Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his positive contribution. What is required now is vigilance. As the Deputy will know, even when an animal strays off the farm and dies of natural causes, that animal's identification tag is pursued to ensure it was disposed of in a correct way and for traceability purposes is removed from the national database. When one is doing one's farming records, all that has to be followed up.

I accept what the Deputy is saying. It is difficult to understand how such animals can in some cases disappear. However, we know they are disappearing into something. I appeal to farmers in the area, gardaí and members of the public to be very vigilant. This is the way forward. The same happened with fuel laundering. It is possible to reduce the impact by keeping vigilant and ensuring that everybody is informed and doing their job. I thank the Deputy for raising this very important issue.

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