The ongoing crisis on a farm suffering from persistent, unexplained animal health problems remains unresolved despite a European Parliament report last week citing industrial pollution as the probable cause.
The building materials group Cement Roadstone Holdings (CRH) has rejected the findings of a study by MEPs which claims pollution from the company's Ormonde Brick factory in Castlecomer, Co Kilkenny is the "probable" cause of animal health problems on an adjacent 170-acre dairy farm.
Dairy farmer Dan Brennan had petitioned the parliament to investigate stunted growth, low milk yields and high calf mortality among his cattle over the past 17 years. Vegetation on his farm has also been dying. Extensive investigations by the Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have failed to provide an explanation.
A delegation of MEPs visited the farm earlier this year and their report was adopted by the Committee on Petitions last week.
The authors of the report, Marcin Libicki from Poland and Radu Podgorean from Romania, noted that "since 1990 the cattle on the farm have been victim to a serious disorder which has restricted their growth and their milk production".
They also said: "Reports by independent vets, who have spent a considerable amount of time studying the phenomenon as well as some of the research conducted by the EPA, indicate a likely source of contamination resulting from toxic emissions from the local brick factory in Castlecomer, owned by Cement Roadstone Holdings."
The authors are also critical of the tests carried out by the Irish authorities and claim that "most of the tests conducted . . . had serious methodological shortcomings".
An exasperated Mr Brennan, who has four young children, said the ongoing problems on the farm at Drumgoole are threatening his livelihood. "If the authorities in Brussels can see the problem, why can't the Irish authorities?" he said. He told The Irish Times he has "lost confidence in the Department of Agriculture and described the EPA as "a disaster of an organisation which has been more of a hindrance than a help".
Referring to the brick factory, he said: "While the factory was closed [ temporarily] from last December [ 2006] to the end of March [ 2007] the Department of Agriculture had cattle on the farm and they performed exceptionally well. But, since the factory reopened they have failed to thrive."
The brick factory was established in 1969 and operates under an integrated pollution control licence from the EPA. In a statement, CRH said the parliament's "findings have no scientific basis whatsoever and fail to reflect the current position which, on foot of protracted investigations, studies and scientific tests by the Department of Agriculture, found that no link has been established between the ongoing difficulties on the Brennan farm and the operations at Ormonde Brick Ltd".
The company also said it "has sympathy for any farmer experiencing problems similar to those reported on the Brennan farm" and says it is willing to "assist in investigating this matter".
Fine Gael MEP Maireád McGuinness, a member of the petitions committee, said the members had mandated the chairman to send the report to the departments of agriculture and of environment as well as to the EPA.
The report calls for further scientific tests and states: "[ This] is a matter which deserves to be taken much more seriously than it has been by the Irish authorities until now".
