The Irish Farmers Association (IFA) has called on the Minister for Agriculture to provide his new draft proposals to stakeholders in advance of the TB summit.

Minister Martin Heydon called an emergency TB summit to take place on Thursday, 8 May which will include a revamp of the TB eradication scheme.

At the TB Forum meeting on 26 March, the Department of Agriculture committed to providing stakeholders with their proposals and rationale as well as observations on the proposals made by IFA.

IFA president Francie Gorman said that to date, he has not been provided with these documents.

“The minister was able to brief media about his ‘summit’ before he even sent the invitation to the stakeholders, yet he is unwilling to provide any details of the measures to be discussed on the day.”

Summit

IFA submitted its set of proposed enhancements to the TB programme measures at the end of February, which was the deadline set by the Department of Agriculture.

The IFA proposals were drafted with the consultation of its members and the National Animal Health Committee which has an elected farmer representative from every county.

Francie Gorman added that “out of the blue” notice given for the summit raises concerns that this is a “poorly thought-out PR stunt by the minister”.

“This shouldn’t be about spin or choreography from the minister. TB is deadly serious and it is costing farmers millions.”

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