Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

We need to have a debate this week on the shocking revelations about the dark side of the dairy industry. As a Dáil, we cannot just close our eyes to the horrific treatment of hundreds of thousands of calves on a yearly basis and rise for the summer recess. The Taoiseach earlier seemed to suggest this is just about a few bad apples. That is the Government washing its hands of its responsibility for creating an industry in which, bluntly, the export of live calves can either be profitable or humane. Clearly, the decision has been made for it to be profitable. This is not just about a few calves being horrifically kicked, thrown around and hit with sticks, horrific though that is; it is about the export of hundreds of thousands of calves yearly in massively overcrowded trucks over long journeys of over 18 hours without anything like adequate rest, food or water. We need a ban on those live exports. It has been reported that there is to be an investigation by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. That is welcome but the findings should come before the House. We should be able to debate the nature of the investigation before the Dáil rises.

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