Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Regarding livestock marts, in County Leitrim we have five such marts and an incident at one of them a few months ago, where a man was seriously injured, rang alarm bells for me. While the marts are very well managed and run, they are very dangerous places with many very stressed cattle and many people who are anxious to look at those cattle and who often put themselves in a dangerous position in order to do so. Marts can also be a very dangerous environment for workers. In that context, I ask that the Health and Safety Authority, HSA, conduct a survey of our livestock marts and determine what needs to be done to make them safer so that people can enjoy their time there, which is what many patrons are doing, rather than buying or selling animals. This is an issue that deserves some attention.

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