Efforts to prohibit fur farming in Ireland have been slow, and Seanad discussions continue on compensation for sector after a mink farming ban. Around 35 staff in Donegal, Kerry and Laois are employed in the mink farming industry and legislation indicates that the farms be compensated for losses and costs incurred as a result of the ban.
Senator Victor Boyhan called for a negotiated settlement with the mink farmers, and leader of Seanad Éireann Regina Doherty said two weeks’ statutory redundancy offered for the 35 or so people does not sit well with senators. “We have people who have spent millions of their own euros investing in and improving their farms because the State and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine made them do so over recent years, and they are going to get absolutely zero compensation.”
“For the Department’s proposal to cover only statutory redundancy seems to me to be a mistake”, said Senator Ollie Crowe. While Senator Paul Gavan, added, “Please engage with these people to ensure they can move on with their lives and to ensure those words ‘just transition’ have real meaning.”
Senators also objected to the compensation offered being based on the three farms’ past five years of business, pointing out this included two of the worst years experienced in the business.
LSL News.