ICMSA Climate Bill issues must be addressed
The farming community has a broad number of concerns with the proposed Climate Action Bill, the President of the ICMSA Pat McCormack maintains.
If enacted in its current form, the impact in the future will cause considerable damage to the very foundation to Ireland’s agricultural structure, the farm family and will cause serious damage to the entire agri-food sector which remains Ireland’s largest activity. The food sector brings huge sums of money into Ireland from the exports it generates.
As such, it is reasonable to describe this measure as it is currently structured as both ‘anti-farm’ and rural Ireland in general.
Measures to penalise for dog attacks
“There must be appropriate sanctions in place for those who fail to have their dog under control at all times and for those whose dogs are identified worrying or attacking livestock,” the Chairman of the IFA Sheep Committee Sean Dennehy said last week.
Sean Dennehy again called upon Minister Charlie McConalogue to bring forward measures to penalise the owners of dogs which attack livestock.
“We need a single national database for all dogs in the country that identifies the dog owner who is responsible,” he said. This means that the local authorities must be given the capacity to deal with situations in which sheep are killed or put in distressed states by marauding dogs. In the meantime, the No Dogs Allowed policy of the Association must remain in place.