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

As I am sure the Minister of State is aware, there have been difficulties with the local authority veterinary service in recent years. The county veterinary officers do much of the veterinary work in the counties around the country. Until now, they have been funded by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, FSAI, through a service level agreement with each local authority. In the past three or four years, there has been a reduction in the funding and a pull-back from the FSAI. Although the central funding going to the FSAI has increased, it has tried to cut the funding given to the local authorities to provide this vital service.

There was a dispute which would have caused the county veterinary officers to withdraw the service to local authorities at the end of this month. That would be detrimental to many small businesses around the country but I understand a crisis was averted in the last ten days when an interim agreement was reached for 2021, which will ensure the service continues. After that, however, we will not know where we are. We have an opportunity over the next 12 months to ensure a proper service level agreement is put in place for three or five years, as would be the norm, to ensure the current level of service is maintained.

One of the key roles the local authority veterinary service carries out relates to small abattoirs and food production companies that use meat as one of their core elements. The local authority veterinary service has to carry out inspections of these premises and ensure all the regulations are adhered to. If the service were to withdrawn, it would throw all these businesses into crisis. I mentioned this a few weeks ago and the Ceann Comhairle remarked that the Christmas turkeys could be in danger if the service were withdrawn. That is exactly what the county vets do. The people who produce turkeys, including small producers of a couple of hundred turkeys, must have the local county vet come to inspect and ensure everything is done properly. It is a vital service. Its role expanded in recent years as small food start-up companies are often referred to the local veterinary service and these vets then go out and work with them. The local enterprise offices, LEOs, in many local authorities work closely with the local vet to develop small businesses in the food sector.

This is a vital service. It is a retrograde step that this dispute went so close to the line that the service was about to be withdrawn entirely coming up to Christmas. We have a stay on that for 12 months and there is an opportunity to ensure the service is bedded down properly and made sustainable into the future through a three-year or five-year contract that would guarantee the service. I look forward to the Minister of State's reply.

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