Results 121-140 of 1,967 for speaker:Joe Flaherty

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Welfare, Treatment and Traceability of Horses: Discussion (26 Jun 2024)

Joe Flaherty: I am conscious of my time. The Department was aware of the shed and that it was part of the operation, because the animals came into it on the previous evening. Is that correct?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Welfare, Treatment and Traceability of Horses: Discussion (26 Jun 2024)

Joe Flaherty: I know it is not part of the lairage but there would be an obvious expectation and understanding that the building was part of the slaughter chain. If that was the first point where the horses come in, surely somebody in the Department, during the lifetime of this horrendous operation, should have checked? Ultimately, two bodies are responsible for this - Shannonside Foods and the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Welfare, Treatment and Traceability of Horses: Discussion (26 Jun 2024)

Joe Flaherty: That is great hindsight but, on reflection, does Mr. Sheahan think that if he had gone and looked inside that building when he visited the plant three years ago, he could have averted what happened?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Welfare, Treatment and Traceability of Horses: Discussion (26 Jun 2024)

Joe Flaherty: I know, but Mr. Sheahan was aware that the horses were coming from that building. I cannot understand why nobody ever suggested looking inside the building.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Welfare, Treatment and Traceability of Horses: Discussion (26 Jun 2024)

Joe Flaherty: We have a vote coming and we have the other two bodies here. I understand and we have seen from the Committee of Public Accounts that the other two bodies probably do not have that much of regulatory or enforcement input in respect of what happened. However, they do have a major responsibility with regard to passports. Horse Sport Ireland will know that this has been a hobby horse of mine...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Welfare, Treatment and Traceability of Horses: Discussion (26 Jun 2024)

Joe Flaherty: I thank the witnesses for coming here today. I will try not to go back over old ground. The Chair already referred to the most startling point in Mr. Sheahan's opening statement. This is the admission that nobody ever visited the building where most of this took place. It is cloaked, to some degree, by saying it was not part of the lairage, but it was covered by general animal welfare...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Welfare, Treatment and Traceability of Horses: Discussion (26 Jun 2024)

Joe Flaherty: Our apologies again for the delay. We can blame democracy. I will come back to the thorny issue of passports. We are told that anything up to three and four foals were sold last year without a passport. Obviously, this raises questions about equine traceability. A question was put to Mr. Sheahan earlier in relation to the number of horses in Ireland that do not have passports. Can he...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Welfare, Treatment and Traceability of Horses: Discussion (26 Jun 2024)

Joe Flaherty: Hypothetically, these are 200 animals that be gone into the ether.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Welfare, Treatment and Traceability of Horses: Discussion (26 Jun 2024)

Joe Flaherty: They could be gone into the ether where, for example, a farmer is destitute and has a foal that has no passport and that he is then just going to get rid of. Hypothetically, that animal is going to go unchecked somewhere.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Welfare, Treatment and Traceability of Horses: Discussion (26 Jun 2024)

Joe Flaherty: Have all the breeders received their foal kits for this year?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Welfare, Treatment and Traceability of Horses: Discussion (26 Jun 2024)

Joe Flaherty: That is my information from breeders. I will send Mr. Duggan an email with details for that large number tomorrow.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Welfare, Treatment and Traceability of Horses: Discussion (26 Jun 2024)

Joe Flaherty: It can technically be sold but it will not change hands. It can be sold pending the passport but probably will not change hands or the breeder will not get his or her money.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Welfare, Treatment and Traceability of Horses: Discussion (26 Jun 2024)

Joe Flaherty: In relation to the investigation the Department has begun regarding the breakdown of thoroughbred and sport horse stock, can it provide a breakdown on the passports that were discovered in that plant? Are we looking at 50% or-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Welfare, Treatment and Traceability of Horses: Discussion (26 Jun 2024)

Joe Flaherty: Yes. AT the Shannonside Foods plant.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Welfare, Treatment and Traceability of Horses: Discussion (26 Jun 2024)

Joe Flaherty: In the limited time remaining, I have two questions for Mr. Sheahan. When does he believe there will be an appropriate and approved Department equine slaughter facility available in Ireland? In the absence of such a facility, what additional safeguards, if any, have been put in place regarding equine transportation for slaughter?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Welfare, Treatment and Traceability of Horses: Discussion (26 Jun 2024)

Joe Flaherty: I know there have been four, but it is obviously critical for the sector that we have a slaughter facility. It is critical for animal welfare.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Welfare, Treatment and Traceability of Horses: Discussion (26 Jun 2024)

Joe Flaherty: When are we going to have that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Welfare, Treatment and Traceability of Horses: Discussion (26 Jun 2024)

Joe Flaherty: Clearly, it is not as regulated as slaughtering cattle.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Welfare, Treatment and Traceability of Horses: Discussion (26 Jun 2024)

Joe Flaherty: I thank the witnesses.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Welfare, Treatment and Traceability of Horses: Discussion (26 Jun 2024)

Joe Flaherty: Obviously, the Department has heard about the issues with passports. I have raised it previously. As the Department's legal official here, is Mr. Sheahan satisfied with the stud book breeding contract that was renewed for a second year, given that we still have certain inadequacies in relation to the management of the stud book?