Eight farmers yesterday lost their High Court application for orders to compel the Minister for Agriculture and Food to return their cattle passports or issue movement permits for their animals.
The farmers had claimed that, without those documents, they and some 1,100 other farmers in a similar predicament could not move animals. They also claimed that their livelihoods were being jeopardised.
The court was told that an industrial dispute over promotion involving officials at 35 local Department of Agriculture offices around the State had delayed return of the documents.
Because they did not have the necessary documents, the farmers claimed the fact that they had to keep animals, some diseased, on their farms raised issues of animal and human health and was also threatening their ability to secure certain EU grants.
They claimed that they were having to cut fodder at the wrong time of year for animals which should not be on their farms and that this would affect fodder stocks in the winter.
Mr Feichín McDonagh SC, for the Minister, argued that the Minister and non-striking officials were doing everything possible to resolve the matter and have the documents returned, but animal health issues were at stake.
He argued that the Minister was very conscious of the farmers' predicament, had engaged in talks with farm associations on the issue and was exploring alternatives, but these farmers were seeking priority treatment over some 1,100 other similarly-affected farmers.
He said that the Minister had issued directions to non-striking officials around the State in an attempt to speed up the return of the documents, but much of the difficulty lay in the fact that important documents were lying unopened in offices across the State. One non-striking official in the Department office in Galway had refused to deal with documents which related to five of the farmers involved, he added.
Mr Richard Nesbitt SC, for the farmers, argued that alternatives only appeared to be explored when the farmers had initiated court action. He claimed that the Minister was "sitting on his hands" and effectively saying that the delays were due to an industrial dispute. In the meantime, his clients were experiencing real hardship.
Since his eight clients initiated their action last Monday, his solicitor had been inundated with phone calls from farmers in a similar plight, counsel added.
Giving his decision refusing the interlocutory orders sought, Mr Justice Quirke agreed that the farmers were experiencing great hardship. He said that he believed there was not a citizen in the country who would not sympathise with them.
However, he added, they were asking the court to take the rare step of making mandatory orders, prior to the main hearing of their action, directing the Minister to return their documents when there were issues of animal health at stake, which the Minister was required to take into account.
As there was a conflict of evidence before the court as to what steps the Minister might take and had taken, he could not resolve at this stage whether there was a real issue to be tried between the parties, the judge added.
He believed if the farmers did establish at the main hearing that they had a real case, and judgment was given in their favour, then damages would be an adequate remedy for any loss sustained as a result of the Minister's failure to return their documents, the judge said.
The action was by Mr Larry Mockler, Caltra, Ballinasloe, and seven other farmers with addresses in Co Galway and Co Cork.
In an affidavit, Mr Mockler, a father of four young children who farms 100 acres at Caltra village, Ballinasloe, said his only source of income was farming and that the failure to secure movement permits or to have his cattle passports returned was creating serious difficulties for him.
He had applied for movement permits for 10 disease-free animals, but had failed to secure these, and no reason was given except that he was told there was an industrial dispute at the Department.
