Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)

I thank the Senator for raising this issue. The programme for Government 2020 contained a commitment regarding the prohibition of fur farming. As a result of this commitment, the Department enacted the Animal Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2022 in December 2022, amending the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013. The new Act contained a statutory prohibition on the breeding, rearing or keeping of certain animals solely or primarily for the value of, or the manufacture of products from, their fur or skin.

In June 2021, the then Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Charlie McConalogue, announced compensation for fur farming operators licensed under the Musk Rats Act 1933 following a decision to ban the practice. The Department introduced the legislative framework to compensate the remaining fur farming operators in Ireland who were impacted by the ban. Under the Animal Health and Welfare (Fur Farming Compensation Scheme) Regulations 2022, SI 650 of 2022, fur farming operators could receive compensation for income losses, non-income losses and costs incurred as a direct result of the ban. SI 650 of 2022 also made provision for compensation in respect of loss of profits, demolition and clean-up costs and professional fees for services both before and after the prohibition.My Department was also aware that workers who were to be made redundant needed to be provided for in the legislation, as the Senator mentioned. Therefore, a further provision was included to ensure a training fund to compensate the redundant workers affected by the closure of fur farming operators.

In accordance with SI 650 of 2022 and in order to avail of the compensation scheme, fur farming operators were required to submit a completed application for compensation to my Department no later than the date of the appointment of the assessor, EY, which was appointed in December 2022 by the then Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Charlie McConalogue, to determine payment amounts following a tendering process. Determinations by the assessor required the applicant to submit a completed application with all of the required supporting documentation. The assessor appointed a quantity surveyor to provide expert advice on certain demolition and repurposing works and a site visit was required for this work to proceed.

Work is ongoing on this matter. The compensation process has been ongoing since December 2022. To date, a total of almost €3.4 million has been paid to fur farming operators under this scheme. I will bring back to the Minister the issues raised by the Senator.