The Climate Action Plan target to cut the age of cattle at slaughter to 22-23 months provoked an angry response from a number of farmers in Thomond Park.

Several farmers argued this would result in a seasonal glut of finished cattle which would undermine the prices paid to them.

Carlow beef farmer John Kehoe tackled the minister on whether any analysis had been done on its potential impact.

“Has the minister or his department conducted an analysis as to what that’s going to do with regard to marketing our beef? I have figures done that the kill will go over 50,000 cattle per week at its prime. That’s the target that has been set out by the minister,” Kehoe said.

Minister Charlie McConalogue countered that Teagasc work showed “real room in the system for reducing the average age at slaughter”.

“That’s not to say that everyone slaughters at 16, 18, 20 or 22 months but, working together, there is the capacity across the sector to bring down the average age at slaughter,” he maintained. “That’s something which actually will improve profitability, and it actually will reduce emissions.”

Reacting, Kehoe insisted “not if we end up slaughtering 50,000 cattle a week” and again called on the minister to answer whether any analysis had been done.

The minister reiterated that “there is real, real potential to reduce the age at slaughter and that’s a win-win in terms of improved profitability”, to which Kehoe asked: “How can you say that if you haven’t done the analysis? ”

Former IFA livestock chair Henry Burns, said earlier slaughter being more carbon efficient was “not true necessarily because it depends on your system”.

“The people who are trying to stay in beef are dealing with dubious genetics, to say the least, and the weights that can be achieved per age, the length of finishing, different quality of land…It actually makes more sense at the minute to push out the cost of wintering, so it’s a bit unfair.”

Department of Agriculture senior inspector Bill Callanan reiterated that the objective was to reduce the average age of the typical animal at slaughter.

“At an individual farm level there’s a massive spread in terms of the performance of those animals,” he told the gathered farmers.

“BDGP was criticised in the early days, right? Well, everybody recognised what it's trying to achieve. ICBF has confirmed that we used to have 79 calves for every 100 cows walking around the place. Now we’re at 84. That’s positive from a farmer point of view and it’s positive in terms of efficiency,” Callanan said.

“It’s been said that that the 30-month rule is now a 24-month rule - it’s not,” he insisted. “It's a question of bringing the average age across those [animals being slaughtered] down.”