Paul Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I second Senator Gallagher's proposal to amend the Order of Business. Now is the time to start dealing with these issues. We have lost a lot of jobs already in the mushroom industry and, with the announcement of imminent job losses in Monaghan, this is Brexit coming at us. We are all talking about it and posturing but it is time to stop the rot. It is vitally important when we hear of 31 jobs being lost in Monaghan. At this early stage in the negotiations, as people will say, there has to be immediate proactive action taken.

I complement my colleague, Senator Wilson, on raising the issue of councillors' pay and conditions. It is great to see him getting all-round support. The issue needs to be addressed. The record will show that I flagged this on the day the Minister was here previously and warned that councillors were going to lose more money than they would gain.

I wish to raise a very pressing issue within the agriculture sector which has to do with the clean livestock policy. People will be aware that there is a clean livestock policy whereby animals being presented for slaughter in abattoirs and processing plants need to be presented in a relatively clean fashion or they will be categorised and may not be allowed into the food chain because of the possibility of contamination of the meat. The clean sheep policy was only introduced in recent weeks. In the week gone by there has been unbelievable confusion about the interpretation of this policy. There is no consideration being taken of the fact that the majority of sheep, unlike cattle, are finished and fattened outside in the pastures. With the wet year we have had, it is almost impossible to have them to the standards that are being expected.

The Minister needs to intervene immediately. Kepak stopped slaughter of lambs during the week and is sending home the vast majority of the sheep that are presented. Some farmers have shorn their sheep to bring them to slaughter, which has to be an animal welfare issue in the month of February with the weather we are having at the moment.It cannot be allowed to continue. As I said, now is the time to intervene in the situation. The Minister needs to take immediate action. The situation is being misinterpreted. There needs to be a practical and realistic approach taken.