Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue is to seek a fresh, independent investigation into the case of Dan Brennan’s farm in Castlecomer, Co Kilkenny.

The review would re-examine the Department of Agriculture’s work in investigating the evidence, as well as any reports that fed into the 2010 verdict which concluded that emissions from a local brick factory were not the cause of issues on Brennan’s farm.

The farm came to nationwide prominence after it witnessed anomalies in animal performance varying from chronic ill-thrift with no obvious disease or nutrition cause, to bones forming in the soft tissues of cattle and bones being soft enough to bend.

The Dáil heard letters on Thursday written by Department vets investigating the matter which stated that Brennan’s farm and herd health management were not to blame for these issues.

Re-examination

The Oireachtas agriculture committee attempted to launch its own investigation into the matter in late 2022, but dropped the idea on foot of legal advice.

The committee subsequently published a report outlining the evidence it had heard from Brennan and witnesses including former editor of the Irish Farmers Journal Matt Dempsey, former Teagasc vet Jim Crilly and former IFA president Padraig Walshe.

This report raised concerns on the contribution of industrial emissions from a nearby brick factory to the issues on Brennan’s farm, as well further concerns with the “response of the regulatory authorities” involved in the investigation.

The minister’s commitment for a fresh review of the evidence comes on the back of a recommendation from this committee.

Minister McConalogue told TDs that it is “appropriate that I would have a separate review of my own Department’s investigation and any work that fed into that to look at this further and feedback”.

Minister McConalogue is to seek an independent review into the case. \ Philip Doyle

“What has been done here, 20 years is a long time and there is a lot of water under the bridge in relation to it, but I do respect the work of the committee and the priority and time you have collectively given to this issue and the assessment you made,” he said.

“I think it is fair, in recognition of that, to ask someone independently to review the Department’s investigation in relation to this and also any information alongside that too.”

Previous investigators

Minister McConalogue said the inter-agency group which carried out investigations into Brennan’s farm from 2003 to 2010 comprised “relevant and expert bodies of the State” capable of carrying out its work on an “objective” basis.

Dan Brennan pictured on his farm in the mid-2000s with trees which died of no apparent cause.

This group included the Department of Agriculture, Teagasc, UCD veterinary researchers and the Environmental Protection Agency.

“The group was not in any way dismissive of the possibility that environmental pollution was a factor in the issues on the farm,” he said.

“However, it is clear that at the time, the effort of the State to get to the bottom of the matter was significant, the agencies involved were there to serve the public interests and I don’t have any reason to believe that their efforts were to do anything other than establish the facts in relation to this matter.”

Terms of review

Minister of State at the Department of Housing told the Dáil that he visited the farms in “depths of the crisis and saw firsthand what was going on there and there was something seriously untoward and serious wrong”.

Minister Noonan commented that the review announced by Minister McConalogue must be an “expansive review and look at all the scientific evidence”.

“The terms of reference of the review are going to be very important,” he added.

‘Mental anguish’

Chairman of the Oireachtas agriculture committee Jackie Cahill TD stated that Brennan suffered “huge mental anguish and financial hardship” over what had occurred on his farm.

Cahill read accounts of some Department vets who had been involved in efforts attempting to find the cause for ill-thrift in the herd, written at the time of these initial investigations.

A vet who had spent two years monitoring the occurrences on Brennan’s farm commented in 2004: “It has been confirmed that there has been a very severe problem with ill-thrift and stunting on this farm. No infectious cause has been identified to date.”

Another letter read to the Dáil was from vet Pat Kelleher who worked at the Department’s regional veterinary lab in Kilkenny in October 2004.

“Mr Brennan’s farm is close to an EPA-licensed facility. The circumstances in which Mr Brennan finds himself are outside his control and could not have been foreseen,” Cahill read.

The third letter was from 2005, written by John Moriarty, who said: “We have carried out extensive testing and feed trials, but have not yet identified the cause or possible solutions to the problem.”

Moriarty was quoted as reiterating that “the circumstances in which Mr Brennan find himself are outside his control and could not have been foreseen”.

This vet added that Brennan had been co-operative with the investigation and that he had taken all measures he was asked to.

The affected farmer, Dan Brennan, was present in the Dáil gallery for the debate, as were Irish Farmers Association (IFA) president Francie Gorman and Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association president Denis Drennan.