‘Honour your commitments’ Minister - Hall
“Both of these issues were delivered on by October last year with the support of farmers, yet the minister has still not honoured his commitment to address the outdated and unfair ceilings in the live valuation scheme since,” David Hall, the Chairman of the IFA Animal Health Committee, said as he invited Martin Heydon to comply with the commitment he gave to farmers to alter the ceilings of €3,000 and €5,000 in the On Farm Market Valuation Scheme.
The IFA had raised the matter with him in early 2025, but Mr Heydon has not yet provided the additional funding for the TB Programme nor reached agreement on the contents of the TB Action Plan, he complained.
The current ceilings are not appropriate, but the minister continues to drag his feet on them.
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ICMSA: Action needed before autumn sales
With the big livestock sales of the autumn drawing ever closer, it is vital that the new Bovine Tuberculosis rules are altered in order to prevent confusion, the Deputy President of the ICMSA, Eamon Carroll, said.
At a recent meeting between Minister Martin Heydon and representatives of the Association, it was learned that there has been a significant fall in herd incidence, with over 1,000 fewer groups of animals being placed on restriction on the 2025 figures. Some areas enjoyed reductions of over 20%, but this is the time to ‘double-down’ now and bring about really substantial reductions.
“We do acknowledge the introduction of the special Hotline – which had been committed to originally at our request and then promptly forgotten about by everyone except ourselves – and we are happy to acknowledge that communication has been improved. But it is still not where it should be, and we predict another massive bout of confusion around the traditional autumn buying and selling of cattle as farmers try and work out what is within and without the new rules.We are adamant that the department should be using the next 10 or 12 weeks to really refine their communications and ensure that up-to-the-minute information and advice is available to all farmers easily and without fuss,” Eamon Carroll insists.
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