The Minister for Agriculture, Mr Yates, was warned yesterday that a very serious public health crisis is looming because of the dispute between knackeries and the only plant in the State rendering specified risk materials, writes Sean MacConnell, Agriculture Correspondent.
The warning came from Fianna Fail's deputy spokesman on agriculture, Mr Hugh Byrne, who said that butchers operating their own abattoirs and farmers with fallen animals were being quoted "ruinous" prices to have carcasses taken away.
"There are already documented incidents of animals being dumped on the sides of the road and in forests. This represents a potentially very serious public health hazard", Mr Byrne said.
"The problems with vermin and environmental pollution are obvious. It is essential that the Minister puts in place a viable rendering regime."
The best estimates are that animal fatalities on farms run at up to 3 per cent annually. That means up to 200,000 cattle die own Irish farms each year.
Knackeries are refusing to collect animals and farmers in western counties are complaining that the land is too wet for, burial.