Sir, – Animal cruelty for bull calves as displayed on the recent RTÉ Investigates: Dairy’s Dirty Secret (Monday, July 10th) is but one aspect of modern Irish agriculture.
Very significant environmental damage is also a side effect; the continuing and increasing pollution of rivers, lakes and waterways being recently highlighted and comes as no surprise while we still avail of the derogation which permits the spreading of excess quantities of slurry onto the land.
While many may regard Irish dairy farming as a huge success, it is in fact a story of massive over-production with very damaging consequences. It is extraordinary that nobody foresaw the likely consequences of the lifting of the milk quota system which at least kept the lid on it to some extent.
The continuing pay-out of EU subsidies for Irish agriculture effectively encourages such over-production. Another name for these subsidies is, of course, taxpayer’s money. We are all subsidising the destruction of our environment for short-term (very significant) gain by a few.
:quality(70):focal(4340x2735:4350x2745)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/PVHEMZFP6JCR7HJVKOQH2XH6NY.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/L6BKVZHC7BDOBBKYAOLBWCXXLI.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/PVVKWOYSSFBLHJZYAXNZKLTIDM.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/ASJM7L2LJ5BLXJZ4VVIRP3M6AU.jpg)
If the EU is to take these issues seriously, the matter of using taxpayer’s money to encourage these practices must cease. And derogations relating to the spreading of slurry have to stop.
Modern agricultural practices are highly destructive in nature. Nobody can argue with the science.
Changes in practices are required in order to better produce the food we need without destroying the environment and causing misery for animals.
The bottom line is that we all need to eat; farmers can produce the food, but not in the way they are doing it now.
And the EU needs to refocus the subsidies to those areas of farming where they should be going. – Yours, etc,
JOHN DUNNE,
Enniscorthy,
Co Wexford.
Sir, – In 2015, the financial regulator, who had been in post during Ireland’s banking crisis, acknowledged that he had trusted that banks knew what they were doing. In The Irish Times (“Investigation into animal welfare breaches”, Home News, July 12th) , a quotation from the Minister of Agriculture informs us that “the cattle industry relied heavily on trust regarding the welfare and proper treatment of animals”.
The results of this trusting approach are not encouraging.
Is it time for less trust and more action by Ireland’s various regulators? – Yours, etc,
SEAN RYAN,
Mountshannon,
Co Clare.