A Kilkenny dairy farmer who has "lost confidence in the Department of Agriculture" over unexplained health problems in his cattle herd has been invited to Brussels to put his case to the European Parliament.
Dan Brennan, of Drumgoole, near Castlecomer, says his dairy herd has suffered from stunted growth, low milk yields and high calf mortality over the past 16 years and that trees on his farm have been dying. Extensive investigations by the Department of Agriculture have failed to provide an adequate explanation.
Last year Mr Brennan, with the assistance of Green Party deputy leader Mary White, petitioned the European Parliament to investigate the "devastating" problems on the farm. Cllr White, who described the case as "an issue of huge concern to Irish farmers", will travel to Brussels on January 30th with Mr Brennan and "testify to the committee on the long years of suffering of this farmer".
They hope to convince the European Parliament's petitions committee to conduct an "independent" investigation.
Last year, a confidential report prepared, but not published, by the Department of Agriculture outlined an investigation undertaken by the Veterinary Laboratory Service, assisted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which examined the possibility that the dairy herd had been contaminated by "fluoride toxicity".
The farm is located close to "an industrial source of atmospheric emissions", the CRH-owned Ormonde Brick Factory. The report, seen by The Irish Times, did not find "any evidence to suggest that animals on this farm have been exposed to concentrations of fluorides via air, water or feed likely to lead to toxicity". However, the authors acknowledged that further investigations were needed.
Mr Brennan vehemently rejected the findings of this report and claims his farm is "well run". He met Minister for Agriculture Mary Coughlan to discuss the report and claims she subsequently appointed Robert Milikan, an American veterinary and epidemiology expert, to "review the case".
According to Mr Brennan, Mr Milikan is of the opinion that "something very serious is going on and the ill-thrift in the cattle was not caused by disease".
The father of four young children, Mr Brennan said the situation is "putting severe financial pressure" on his family and that he has "lost a day every week for the last five years" helping the Department of Agriculture with its investigation.
In a statement last night, the Department of Agriculture, which "has not been contacted or consulted by the European Parliament", said "it is proposed that the Department & UCD [ Veterinary Sciences Centre] will undertake further investigations into problems on the farm during 2007".
The statement also said that "it had been suggested that one of the possible causes of the problems [ on the farm] might relate to possible exposure of the cattle to fluorine being emitted from a nearby factory. The department has examined this aspect and carried out elective and general postmortem examinations on some animals from the farm.
"The findings of the postmortems, coupled with results from live animals, have not provided any evidence to date that the problems reported on the farm are related to fluoride exposure. Tests were also carried out for a range of other toxins with similar results."
IFA president Pádraig Walshe said he has visited the farm on a number of occasions. "I have no doubt that there is a definite pollution source outside the farm causing the problem."