A collection and disposal scheme for animals which die on Irish farms will be introduced next Sunday, the Department of Agriculture has announced. The subsidised scheme has been introduced to offer increased environmental and animal health controls by ensuring the maximum number of animals that have died on farms are collected and sent for rendering and destruction.
It will involve the subsidised collection of dead or fallen animals from farms for transport to a dedicated rendering plant by licensed collectors. The cost of rendering and the subsequent destruction of this material will be borne by the State.
Farmers have been complaining that the cost of disposing of so-called fallen animals has gone out of control.
Prior to BSE, animals were collected without charge by rendering plants for use in petfood and bonemeal.
Some factories were willing to accept and slaughter animals which had been injured and had to be slaughtered, but that system ended because of BSE controls.
The Department says the new scheme will entail a fair contribution by farmers which will encourage the disposal of their animals this way rather than by burial.
The Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, said a charge of between £10 and £25 for the collection of cattle, depending on their age, was widely accepted as reasonable.
The scheme should lead to the expansion of the existing fallen animal collection system within the State to those areas with a limited service, he said.
It reflected the commitment given in the Agri-Food Plan of Action 2010 to improve the collection scheme, Mr Walsh said.