Michael Fitzmaurice says that the provision of visas for vets from Turkey and other countries is holding up the live export of Irish Cattle and the situation “needs to be addressed immediately” in order to help trade.
“I am aware that markets for live exports of Irish cattle in Turkey and Egypt are ready to go but vets from Turkey who were due to travel to Ireland to sort out the arrangements for the opening of these markets are having problems with their visas being cleared by the Irish authorities which is a ridiculous situation. This is at a time when live markets for Irish cattle are badly needed. One wonders what the Minister for Agriculture is doing to allow this situation to continue and I am calling on the Minister and the Department to expedite this issue immediately to allow these vital markets to open as soon as possible” he concluded.