Seán MacConnell,
Agriculture Correspondent
The Government believes it can get an agreement on new EU animal-transport regulations, an issue which is being debated by the European Commission.
The Commission has proposed that animals be transported by road for nine hours and then must be rested for 12 hours.
They must not be unloaded from lorries during the rest period.
The proposals set no limit on the length of journeys, and the cycle of travel and rest can be repeated indefinitely.
The proposals also specify that time spent on ferry journeys be treated as a rest period, and that the density of animals being transported be lowered.
The Commission's document was not well received in Ireland, France or Spain as they move large numbers of animals, both internally and for export.
The Nordic countries and Germany believe the new regulations are not strict enough, and the European Parliament voted to limit the length of journeys to eight hours or 500km.
EU farm ministers failed to reach agreement on the new regulations in December and left it to the Irish Presidency to find a way to resolve the differences between the member-states.
A spokesman for the Department of Agriculture and Food said yesterday that, while it had some concerns over the new regulations, Irish transport regulations were in most cases more stringent than the proposed new EU regulations.
"A working party will be seeking a compromise solution to get agreement on the issues involved, and it will meet in a fortnight," he said.
"We are hopeful that agreement can be reached on the issues in April.
"That is the hope of the Minister for Agriculture."
The spokesman said the Department had invited all interested parties in Ireland to make submissions to it, and a fair degree of agreement was reached between the opposing sides.
The Department, he said, had concerns over the issue of leaving cattle on trucks rather than unloading and feeding them in lairages on journeys, and with the density of animals being allowed on trucks.
The farm organisations and exporters have claimed that the new regulations could end the live trade from Ireland, saw 220,000 cattle and 380,000 pigs exported last year.