The Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) has called for a Department of Agriculture investigation into incidents of mistreatment of animals at marts and during transport, uncovered by RTÉ, to be “swift, thorough and robust”.

A statement issued on Monday afternoon ahead of the PrimeTime Investigates programme on Monday night said that the IFA and its farmer members “have a zero-tolerance approach to the mistreatment of animals”.

“Sales at public auction and the transport of animals are governed by regulations and these must be adhered to,” the statement reads.

“Anybody who has evidence of wrongdoing should bring it to the attention of the authorities immediately.”

It adds that the IFA was not asked to contribute to the RTÉ Investigates programme and so had not been shown the footage obtained by RTÉ.

“We will not be making any further comment until we have seen the full programme tonight.”

Calf policy

The statement also highlights the IFA’s calf policy, which highlights that the Department of Agriculture must appropriately police the sales and handling of calves through marts, while also advising that only healthy, hardy calves fit for transport and sale must be brought by farmers to marts.

It also says that the Department of Agriculture must also insist that Irish exporters, and through their French authority counterparts lairage operators, provide adequate training of all staff in contact with or with responsibility for handling calves regarding their proper welfare treatment in loading, off-loading, transit and on feeding and resting.

The full policy is available to read online here.