Public safety was the primary consideration at all times when Defence Forces personnel shot five Limousin heifers on a Co Monaghan farm, according to Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed.
“The Department of Agriculture is not in the business of shooting cattle. It is absolutely the last resort,” he said.
In the wake of the outcry last week over the shooting dead by the Defence Forces of the heifers, the Minister said there was no alternative action available to the official assignee who had responsibility for the herd.
At least four unsuccessful attempts had been made to round up the cattle, he said. The animals have been described as feral.
Mr Creed, who was answering agriculture questions in the Dáil, pointed out that there were other occasions when locks on gates were tampered with and cattle were on the public road.
He said if cattle on the public roadway had caused a serious or fatal accident, “my department would equally be in the dock here. As far as I can see this is a no-win situation”.
The farm was very near the Carrickmacross crossroads. “And there was a concern because of the escalation of these incidents, in terms of the ability of the assignee to manage the herd in question there was a real question of public safety.”
The animals were the last remaining cattle on the farm of John Hoey a landowner declared bankrupt in February.
Mr Creed told Independent TDs Thomas Pringle and Clare Daly: "Taking account of the facts, public safety was the primary consideration at all times."
Mr Pringle asked how they could have gone feral in the first place. He questioned “that the expertise wasn’t there particularly in the Department of Agriculture, to be able to gather up these cattle and have them removed without having them to be shot by the Defence Forces”.
The Donegal TD the issue should have been dealt with in a way that “wouldn’t have been as visible and as shocking for many people, to see soldiers through the fields shooting these cattle”.
Ms Daly acknowledged there was more to the situation than was in the public domain but she asked how often the Defence Forces had acted in this way at the request of the department. She also questioned if the soldiers received training in this regard, if the Department of Agriculture vet was present and if Defence Forces personnel got training for this.
Mr Creed stressed “the department is not in the business of shooting cattle. It is absolutely the last resort”.
The Minister was not aware when it was last invoked. “It’s not a routine occurrence. It’s not an annual occurrence.” There were sufficient checks and balances to ensure “this is not something that is invoked lightly”.
