Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle's office for selecting this Topical Issue matter for discussion today. I was concerned to read in last Thursday's edition of the Irish Farmers' Journal that the expert working group reviewing the Department's current network of regional veterinary laboratories is recommending the closure of three, namely, those in Sligo, Limerick and Kilkenny. This would be a disaster for two reasons. It would undermine the maintenance of premier disease surveillance facilities at key locations and would discommode farmers, forcing them to travel long distances to avail of critical services which are fundamental to their farm enterprises.

The closure of the Sligo veterinary laboratory will leave the north west without any regional veterinary facility. I come from Donegal and can say from personal experience that the laboratory in Sligo provides highly important services to farmers across the north west. It has conducted more than 3,000 post mortems and has tested 25,500 samples since 2015. The facility serves seven counties including Donegal, Sligo, Cavan and Leitrim. It is the only veterinary laboratory for the entire north-west region.

If these closures are to proceed, the rural communities that depend on the agrifood sector as a primary economic activity will be negatively impacted, with farmers having to transport dead animals hundreds of miles across the country for services that are currently available on a regional basis. I can speak about the situation in the north west and the Sligo laboratory on the basis of personal experience but I am aware that the same situation faces farmers who currently avail of the services of the laboratories in Kilkenny and Limerick.

Any closures would undermine the Government's recently launched rural action plan. In addition, there is significant cross-Border co-operation in the area of animal health and welfare. An all-island animal health and welfare strategy facilitates the free movement of animals on the island but with Brexit on the horizon, the closure of these three veterinary laboratories will put at risk the current animal health monitoring and disease surveillance system in operation, thereby negatively impacting the agrifood sector. We need to be doing everything we can to support farmers, not forcing them to make costly and unnecessary journeys for essential services.

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Creed, has said that he will engage in a consultation process with stakeholders. Can the Minister of State, Deputy Doyle, give an assurance today to very worried farmers in the regions affected that the regional veterinary laboratories in Sligo, Limerick and Kilkenny will remain open? Does the Minister of State believe that we should be enhancing service provision in this vital area rather than downgrading it, which has unfortunately been the hallmark of a number of Fine Gael and Government policies on service provision in rural Ireland? As was outlined in reports last week, these closures will lead to a huge loss of geographical coverage as well as the loss of contact with the industry on a local basis. Rural Ireland has seen enough cuts in recent years. I urge the Minister of State not to add to that by closing these laboratories, which would negatively impact on our biggest native industry.

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