Vets and farmers have been strongly criticised by the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, over their resistance to the national Beef Assurance Scheme, the only statutory based system of its kind in Europe.
Mr Walsh is annoyed at farmers' complaints that it will cost them money to pay vets inspection fees. He said it was "beyond belief that any farming representative should quibble about possible minimal costs of inspection, considering the amount of taxpayers' money spent in recent years supporting the beef market".
He reminded farmers that €43 million had been invested by Irish taxpayers in developing a traceability system which underpins the Beef Assurance Scheme. In addition, he said, €250 million had been spent last year in direct support of the beef market which generated half a million tonnes of beef annually.
"The best return for farmers can only be gained if this product can be marketed in the higher value market segments, especially in the UK and continental Europe," said Mr Walsh.
He accused Veterinary Ireland, a group representing vets in private practice, of undermining the implementation of the Beef Assurance Scheme. The vets are seeking a centralised payment system for inspecting cattle on farms.
"The attitude of Veterinary Ireland, which had continuously extolled the virtues of assurance schemes while at the same time undermining the implementation of the Beef Assurance Scheme, is difficult to reconcile," said Mr Walsh.
He said the Act setting up the scheme was unambiguous: any costs in securing certificates of approval was the applicant's responsibility and this had been agreed with the farm organisations in the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness.
A spokesman for Veterinary Ireland said it fully supported the Beef Assurance Scheme but wanted payments made centrally and not from farmer to vet, to ensure the independence of the veterinary inspection service.
It was loath to become involved in a scheme where the farmers were having a row with the Department over who paid for the inspection, and ultimately it was a matter for the Minister to sort out.