Galway Bay fm newsroom – A County Councillor is calling for an urgent review of the Level 5 operating procedures in marts.
Fine Gael Councillor Andrew Reddington has voiced concerns after several marts being forced closed yesterday because of an IT system failure.
He says what farmers want is a limited number of buyers to be allowed to buy in the mart in a socially distant manner and argues that marts have done an excellent job of only letting a limited number of buyers around the ring.
Councillor Reddington's concerns have been echoed by the country's main farm union which says online trading platforms are only able to cope with about a fifth of the livestock that needs to be sold this autumn.
IFA president Tim Cullinan says the public health restrictions are creating a serious blockage in the busy autumn sales window.
