Small meat businesses at risk due to vet services funding row

SMALL abattoirs and meat businesses could be forced to close ahead of the Christmas rush due to a funding row between the local councils and the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI).

Butchers and artisan meat producers are in the firing line in a dispute which centres on funding for the Local Authority Veterinary Service (LAVS).

If a solution to the issue is not found by the end of November then a raft of small abattoirs and businesses involved in meat processing or the preparation of ready meals will be forced to close.

The local authorities employ around 75 vets nationally – including part-time and full-time staff – and these provide the veterinary inspection and supervision arrangements for smallscale abattoirs and food processors.

This is a statutory requirement for such businesses.

Although the vets are employed directly by the local authorities, their work with the abattoirs and food concerns is funded by way of a service contract with the FSAI.

However, the cost of service contract has been in dispute for much of the year, and negotiations between the County and City Management Association (CCMA) – the representative body for local authorities – and FSAI have reached an impasse.

Unconfirmed reports suggest that FSAI is willing to pay €6.6m for the continuation of the current service contract, but that the CCMA is seeking an annual payment of close to €7.8m.

The current service contract has been rolled over three times this year to facilitate the ongoing negotiations, but the CCMA has indicated that this will not happen once the current extension runs out on November 30.

One man that will be directly impacted is Seán Rooney who owns an abattoir near Ballyshannon on the Leitrim-Donegal border.

Seán kills around 15 cattle and 40 lambs each week for five or six local butchers. He also kills cattle and sheep directly for farmers, for the freezer.

The local authority vet attends Seán’s abattoir every Tuesday to inspect the animals before they are killed, and then comes back later in the week to inspect the carcasses.

“If this dispute is not settled then I’ll have to shut up shop,” Seán said.