The first 50 job losses as a direct consequences of the BSE crisis will occur in Monaghan tomorrow, and more losses are threatened, according to SIPTU. It has sought an urgent meeting with the Irish Meat Association, which represents meat-processing plants.
The Moyvalley Meats Ltd plant, at Lough Egish, near Carrickmacross, is to close because of loss of markets in Germany, Indonesia, Egypt, Libya and other Middle Eastern countries, according to the plant's manager, Mr David Durcan, who criticised the decision to operate the destruction scheme.
That scheme began yesterday in one of the 18 designated plants - Honeyclover, Freshford, Co Kilkenny where, according to a factory spokesman, 262 bullocks and cows over 30 months were slaughtered. He said the scheme operated smoothly. The company expected to destroy a further 300 animals today and another 300 tomorrow and it was possible that the scheme would continue next week.
Last night, Mr John Kane, the national industrial secretary of SIPTU, said four major meat plants had indicated to its members that they were going to lay off unneeded staff when the plants start destroying animals.
Layoffs have been threatened in Ballyhaunis, Waterford and in Kilkenny.
"We know that a number of foreign workers have been told they will be going home as there is no processing, boning or packing. It appears that our people are being asked to cooperate in the demise of their own jobs," Mr Kane said.
The union, he added, was assessing the full implications of the current situation and may convene a national meeting of its 5,000 members in the industry to decide what to do.
In a comment last night, Mr John Smith of the IMA said the best way to safeguard jobs in the industry would be to test the animals aged over 30 months and seek to recover markets lost in the latest crisis.
He said this would save the Irish taxpayers hundreds of millions of pounds and also secure jobs. With some more Government assistance, the markets could be recovered, Mr Smith added. He expected some more plants would be killing for destruction before the end of this week.
At a press conference in Dublin yesterday, the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, said he also favoured as low a kill as possible under the destruction scheme. He wanted to see beef tested for the market.
Mr Walsh also said that earlier estimates that 750,000 cattle would qualify for the scheme were probably too high and that he would expect there would be only 300,000 animals presented for destruction.
"The level of destruction will be determined by the recovery in the commercial market. We have put plans in place to see that recovery takes place as quickly as possible."
Mr Pat Brady, of the Associated Craft Butchers of Ireland, said the latest BSE crisis would drive up the cost of beef in family butchers because of the competition in the market for young heifers which are traditionally processed for the home market.
He said Government subsidisation of large export beef plants through the disposal, storing and rendering of offal may be in breach of the Competition Act as unfair trading conditions were being imposed on the domestic abattoirs.