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AN INVESTIGATION IS ongoing into the suspected use of “falsified” records in some planning applications for poultry farms in Northern Ireland, Noteworthy can reveal.
As part of its FACTORY FARM investigation with The Detail and The Guardian, Noteworthy took a deep dive into the all-island poultry litter trade and serious concerns raised over the regulation of the industry on both sides of the border.
The rapid growth in farms and bird numbers in recent years has created a problem – the sheer volume of poultry litter produced and the ammonia emissions that come with it that are already at extremely high levels across the island.
Due to concerns over the scale of the ammonia problem in Northern Ireland, anyone wishing to expand their poultry farm must provide evidence that the litter will be safely disposed, with tillage farms in the Republic of Ireland a key outlet.
Poultry litter contracts with farms in the South were included with over 80 planning applications across a range of local authorities in the North since 2015.
There must also be confirmation from a State body that the importer is a bona fide farmer with the capacity to take the litter. Our analysis of Northern Irish planning files show these official letters are mainly provided by the agri-research body Teagasc.
These Teagasc letters and litter contacts are vital files, without which the farms face the risk of being refused planning permission as the industry continues to expand and searches for an outlet for the sheer volume of litter produced.
Records released to our team, however, reveal that a Teagasc investigation in early 2021 found suspected “falsified” or “altered” Teagasc letters were used to support 23 applications for poultry farms in Northern Ireland since 2015.
Suspected falsified letters
A March 2021 report released to our team states that, through an internal investigation, Teagasc found 60% of 38 letters examined that were claimed to be from the agency were suspected to be either “falsified” (15) or “amended” (8), with only 15 verified as being “legitimate”.
Described as “a matter of significant concern”, the Teagasc report stated it was “clear” that “there exists a significant level of falsification and alteration without consent of documents in support of NI [Northern Irish] planning applications”.
An Garda Síochána was notified, as was the Department of Agriculture (DAERA) in the North. DAERA alerted the Department for Infrastructure (DFI) that investigated the matter, following which it “wrote to the relevant councils advising them to consider the impact of potential false Teagasc information in respect of planning decisions granted”.
At the request of DAERA, officials from the Department of Finance also liaised with the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) on an investigation into “potential fraud”.
This element of the investigation also examined the awarding of grants to sites identified by Teagasc, with DAERA determining there are no concerns regarding the awarding of funding. Since 2014, it has provided £6m (€7m) in grants towards expansion of poultry farms.
DAERA confirmed that its wider investigation is still ongoing and is “focused on the list provided by Teagasc”. “Evidence and outcomes derived, from this initial investigation, may potentially lead to a wider investigation,” it said.
In addition, the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) carried out its own investigation and raised “specific concerns” with two councils regarding alleged breaches of planning conditions at four sites.
NIEA has initiated action against the operators of three of the sites in relation to the failure to submit manure export records that may result in a reduction to subsidy payments.
Two councils in the North confirmed that they have opened enforcement cases, while other local authorities said that investigative actions are underway on the issue.
In a statement, the Ulster Farmers’ Union said that it “was not aware” of poultry farms using suspected falsified documents until approached by our project partners, The Detail.
“This is completely unacceptable and only harms the reputation of Northern Ireland agriculture and must be fully investigated and dealt with by the appropriate authorities,” it said.
Records released by DAERA show that it discovered 11 cases of dumping or unauthorised storage of poultry litter on farmland since 2015 in the North. In two of the cases, the breach was found to be intentional, with off-farm effects identified in four cases.
There is nothing to suggest that any of these incidents are linked to the cases identified by Teagasc or those currently subject to investigation by authorities in the North.
Read our full investigation on poultry litter here>
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Our colleagues on the investigation team at The Detail also published an article today which delves more deeply into issues in Northern Ireland which you can read now.
Our other project partners The Guardian also published an article examining concerns from environmental campaigners that the Republic of Ireland is becoming a “toilet” for cross-border pollution. You can read the article here.
This investigation was written by Niall Sargent of Noteworthy. It was proposed and co-funded by you, our readers. This article was developed with the support of Journalismfund.eu as part of a cross-border project with Rory Winters, Luke Butterly and Tommy Greene for The Detail and Ella McSweeney for The Guardian.
Noteworthy is the investigative journalism platform from The Journal. You can support our work by helping to fund one of our other investigation proposals or submitting an idea for a story. Click here to find out more >>
We also have a number of farming, climate and biodiversity-themed investigation proposals which you can view here.
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We are so asleep in this country . Once again, we are believing politicians that we are getting “free GP care” when they know it’s going to cost €900 to €1,200 per person per year which they’ll reveal next year. They need the publics support to break the “greedy” GP’s first & then they’ll shaft the rest of us. Watch for GP’s either closing or emigrating & then we’ll realise they were not bluffing. By then it will be too late & we’ll all be faced with waiting lists to get a GP appointment as remaining surgeries strain under volumes. But this is a a better health care system. No it’s not. Let’s call it what it really is, ANOTHER TAX !!!!!
How is a family that will not pay 50 euros for a GP visit considered to be another tax? I think it is the other way around. They just want medical professionals to come to terms with the real financial situation in the country which the former absolutely refuse to accept. By the way, they already have the public’s support in this matter. Just ask the public and not members of the medical organization.
Your entitlement to hospital care is already there if you pay PRSI. The govt are not going to refund the portion of PRSI that goes towards health care. The UHI will be an additional payment that will cover Gp visits. There has been no clarification as to whether UHI will cover prescription charges either. That’s why it’s an additional tax designed to plug Reilly’s black holes.
First of all, the gap is there because some professionals think they should be paid more than a spaceman. You also omit the fact that, on top of PRSI, today families are forced to pay a lot of money for private healthcare plans. So paying a bit extra for USI as compared to how much a family has to pay for private insurance today does not sound like a big disaster. USI is the way to go where every person has access to the same medical care, irrespective of their financial situation.
The proposed costings for uhi have not been finalised but the figures are coming in at €900-€1300. For nothing extra bar Gp visits. I certainly would not spend that in a year going to my Gp. So I am in effect being asked to pay another tax on top of my PRSI which already gives me hospital cover.
A middle-income family with private health insurance pays double the amount mentioned by you for their plan only. On top of that, they must pay for GP visits and, in some cases, first referrals too. For those middle-income families the government’s plans could be a big financial relief and will decrease their medical costs by a half. If this is all streamlined properly, everyone will get proper care. The fact is that medical professionals simply do not want things to move in this direction and come out with scaremongering the public. In fairness, I would stay away from speculation until the numbers have been “finalized.” But from what you have written, it is a good deal for families across the country one way or another and good for the minister to undertake such a massive change in such a hostile environment exhibited by medical professionals.
The point is moot. Many middle income families can no longer afford health insurance so by virtue of their employment are dependent on the state system with their PRSI contributions. You are asking them to pay another tax.
You have absolutely no numbers as concerns those families. Many actually stop spending in other areas but try to keep their health insurance for the sake of their peace of mind and kids. Maybe there will also be no need to ask anyone to pay anything more given everyone already pays more. Maybe medical professionals will sacrifice 10% of their pay across the board for the benefit and prosperity of this nation?
The bee in your bonnet is in relation to doctors salaries. You are not thinking logically in relation to the Uhi and the implications of the proposal.
The implications are positive for the nations as a whole and that’s all that one needs to know to implement a nationwide policy.
Typical knee jerk response – doctors just get paid too much. Check out the Irish times article from the last day or so – for the first time ever training schemes for GPs failed to fill all of the available places (after 3 rounds of offers). In a similar fashion we’re currently missing 1 in 8 consultants and high numbers of NCHDs from the nation’s hospitals. If these jobs are so overpaid, how come they’re not being filled? I wonder if the people who complain about excess pay will also complain as loudly when they have to wait dangerously periods of time to see overworked and demoralised doctors?
They have sacrificed more than that already
Yep, it’s the usual brainless drivel that doctors have it too easy, get paid too much, have a handy number, blah blah blah.
So why are we each, according to the HSE’s own figures, doing the work of two people? Where are the queues of applicants for all of the empty jobs?
Could it be that actually this isn’t a cushy, overpaid job?
Marie and others, you will alot of GPs don’t mind about universal health care, they support free GP care for all, it makes life alot less complicated when everyone is on the same par. But the contract that is being offered to GPs currently is an insult. It contains gagging orders, unrealistic expectations when it comes to working hours, a clause that the HSE can request the medical files of ANY patient with no questions or reasons why they want the file at any time they want. This is also only a 6 year contract with the GPs having to sign a new contract every 6 years with the HSE changing any terms and conditions they wish. It is not about the fact patients pay 50€ or a public vs private issue, it is more the contract being offered is an absolute joke.
What is the problem with HSE requesting files? Sounds like more accountability to me which is a good thing. Why GPs do not want to sign a new contract every 6 years? Seems like a far longer term than many government subcontractors get, no? The fact that there is a shortage of GPs or medics does not speak about anything. There is a huge shortage of IT workers at the moment. This does not mean people do not want to go there because the conditions are horrible but simply because demand surpluses offer. For this reason, the government issues work visas in specific areas and they are filled in over time. The thing is GPs and generally medics want to be subcontractors on their own terms, continue holding a monopolistic situation in the country in the area of primary healthcare and hence being able to charge whatever they like, be accountable to nobody, and still everybody think that it is how it should be. Just shows how important it is to make the system unified, transparent, regulated, and accountable.
Yes
Why should the HSE be allowed request your medical notes? There goes confidentiality out the window. While GPs may be subcontractors now, they still have life long contracts with the HSE, just like many workers in the hospital. Now the new generation are being asked just to accept 6 year contracts which means every 6 years the government can change any terms/payments etc and try to force GPs to accept it. Current spending in GP from the health budget is at 2%, in the NHS it’s 9% and many people are unhappy with GP care over there. Primary care is in fact the one area that most patients are happy with and now the government want a complete upheaval of that? GPs are in fact accountable to the Irish Medical Council so I don’t know why you think they are accountable to nobody? Or who exactly you think they should accountable to? As I said before, most GPs have no problem with free GP care for all as long as the situation is right, the contract is fair and resources are put in place so they can maintain the high standard of primary care currently in Ireland.
All you have to do is cast your eyes back to the closure of st bridgets in ballinasloe. A purely political decision. Consultant psychiatrists expert opinions cast aside.
Marie. It’s such a shame you have this incredibly negative view of doctors in Ireland. The thing is, you argue your points really well and you’d be good value in any public debate but some of your facts are so wrong on this one, I don’t even know where to begin.
I’m a doctor working in Scotland & I see just how tough Irish doctors have it compared to us. E.g. I met an Irish surgical trainee on a course in Edinburgh last week who told me the Republic of Ireland have a total of 6 Consultant Paediatric Surgeons. For the exact same population in Scotland we have….. (wait for it)…….24 Consultants. Irish doctors haven’t chosen these horrendous conditions for themselves so do them a favour and give them a break. Stop criticising things you don’t fully understand.
Incidentally the surgical trainee was on the course trying to get his foot in the door to work over here. Case closed. Pass me my crossword.
Reg. Once again you are wrong. GP’s are flooding out of the IMO as a result of the pension scandal. They pay a fee which is optional like an other represetative body & can decide to walk away which a lot are. I read the story & it was a rouge CEO & stupid board decisions not the GP’s they were supposed to be representing with the money. IMO were asleep at wheel & government have seized opportunity of this issue to kick them while they are down. My view the GP’s should stick two fingers to IMO & all of them use money to get their own independent legal advice. All 3,000 plus then send their legal advices to Reilly that he can’t break contract & watch how quickly he’ll come to table to have meaningful discussions. If not, GP’s should all refuse to work under proposal on mass & you watch the media get to the nub & truth of issue. Free GP care is a TAX !!!!!!!
Would have thought it is now Reilly’s INfamous UHI system?
Marie. Are you a Fianna Gael or Labour representative ?
Free GP care is a tax? That is a bright example of two mutually exclusive ideas.
Here here, Johnny.
Marie. I work in Tax & know one when I see it. Free GP care = UHI = ANOTHER. Politics is obviously your profession as you clearly know nothing about what your talking about or the real issues at hand. You might also check up the meaning of mutual exclusive .
Lack of money in people’s pockets and the enormous money charged by medical professionals get in the way of the healthcare of the nation.
*hear
Oh, don’t I know. It is not about a union though but the whole medical profession as a whole I think. In a couple minutes there will be quiet a few of their reps here telling everyone how we will all be extinct as a nation and as a result of their mass exodus to the greener pastures in New Zealand and Australia if they are forced to see a sick child of middle-income parents without a medical card.
Loving the red thumbs. Where do people think that 10 million pension pot came from? Yes, you guessed it, the pockets of patients!
Reg, the thing is that people love this initiative because everyone is absolutely tired of paying private healthcare insurance, GP visits, first referrals, etc. In a family without sick people healthcare is like the third highest expense. I can only imagine how things are for people with sick relatives. They just do not want to lose a piece of their lucrative place and come up with fantastic arguments. People just continue paying because they value their health, and medics just simply exploit this situation. I can only imagine what a hell the minister for health is going through with them. These people are happy getting lots of money of sick people and just do not want a change. Absolutely none. Now they are trying to use the negative sentiment regarding the health department to undermine the initiative which is such a positive change for the population of the country and this is really upsetting.
You’re right Marie, this is about money and little else. I’s love to see the IMO publish some salary figures for GPs in Ireland and see how they compare with some of our european neighbours.
Why only in neighbouring countries Reg? How about the salaries in this country? 10 min’s visit costs a person on a minimal salary 50 euros whereas they earn some miserable 1.44 euros in the same time interval. How are they supposed to cope? That’s 35 times more than the minimum salary. That’s only GPs. The numbers grow exponentially from there the higher we go the medical system.
Marie that €50 isn’t the GP’s salary as you so ignorantly think. It pays for rent, rates, insurance both medical and public liability, electric, heat, supplies, nurses, receptionists, Internet, phone, I coul go on but you get my point. On the other hand I’ve called out a plumber who won’t have these overheads who has charged me €80 call out fee to tell me I need to buy a new dishwasher in ten mins flat. No griping about that fee eh???? And imagine the effort the Gp went to to get to the stage where he/she can diagnosis your family. A lot less time and expense than the no overheads plumber.
Ignorantly? A person who for the same time earns 1.44 euros also have to pay public liabilities, for electricity, heat, etc., and still somehow must fork out 50 euros. So the minister is offering a solution-universal healthcare in the case of which all those GP “liabilities” will be sorted out by the state but GPs somehow seem to object the initiative. very treaky GPs huh? I got a plumber for 30 euros. You are obviously used to overpaying be it GPs or plumbers.
You don’t understand public liability insurance obviously. No one on minimum wage ( I’m guessing that’s where you are getting your €1.44 figure from) is paying the overheads of running a business. Hence the GP is ultimately not “earning” €50 in ten minutes. You are describing personal living costs when you are talking about expenses which of course the Gp has too in their own home.
Marie, a GP provides an extremely specialised service, and in the case of most GPs it is an efficient surface too. On average (as was mentioned above) 67% of the €50 you have paid goes on practice expenses, that is BEFORE tax, so approx 25% goes as GP income. It is still a relatively sufficient income, but they are by no means taking advantage of middle income families. You must also remember how little they are paid per annum for medical card patients (€70 PER YEAR for an under 6 child, no matter how many times they attend, upto ~ €120 per year for an adult, again with unlimited visits) and medical card patients represent the majority of the GP’s income.
So GPs are not the greedy fat cats you are portraying them as. They provide a specialised service to better a crucial factor in everyone’s life – health. They have a moderately good income after 10-12 years of intense training which in my, and many others opinion is well deserved.
They are not asking for a pay increase, they are simply refusing a contract that will disable them from providing an efficient service, as they are now doing. It is time for appointments that they need, not money.
Apologies for the essay but this is just infuriating. And will be infuriating for others when they must wait for 2 weeks for an appointment to see their GP as he deals with kids with runny noses if this bill is passes.
Good to see censorship in action today. Someone get offended by the former head of the IMO’s massive pension perhaps?
That’s old new Reg, people got infuriated about that when it was news. They still are, but that’s not the topic of discussion here.
It’s not really old news because that money will have to be paid for the next thirty odd years. Doctors pay into the IMO and people pay doctors. That disgusting sum of money is coming out of patients pockets and will do so for many years to come.
I think you are wildly extrapolating here. Drs pay their annual IMO subscription fee, or not. Up to them. The subscription fee is the same regardless of the pension payment that had taken place. In the grand scheme of Drs cost their IMO subscription fee is minimal, a drop in the ocean, and not the reason for “high” drs fees, see costs to GP outlined above. FYI drs were not aware of te pension deal it was done without their knowledge And they are still outraged by it. It caused a significant drop in IMO membership.
Reg that was a sickening payment to their ex leader but it was a total of about €4 million from a body with 6000 subscribers. If my maths are correct their own annual reports would suggest that the IMO takes in about €3 million in income from its members which equates to about €500 a year. Like Grand Dame has mentioned this is a drop in the ocean so don’t let it bog you down on this topic. It is a sickening situation all the same but the IMO is an independent body which represents doctors so hopefully the members won’t put up with anything like this ever happening again.
How is it exactly relevant for a family on low income where the money goes when they cannot pay that much to obtain the service? If it is so burdensome for GPs to pay for their business costs, then they willl hopefully be freed of that huge expense soon when they will have to be included in universal healthcare. I understand all costs they pay and everything, but I also understand that, when a person does not have the money to pay, it really becomes irrelevant what costs GPs have for them. 25% would still make 8.7 times the minimal salary. Also, what does a person who earns the minimum and has no medical cad has to do with the fact that GPs do not get “enough” for medical card holders? Turns out as if people with minimal incomes and no medical cards do not matter or households who are left with no money at the end of the month? By the way, doctors are not the only ones who spend years studying on this planet, simply they have found themselves in a lucrative place where people have no negotiating ability; hence, it is very important for the government to intervene which it is currently doing.
10 mins service for a washing machine or any other electrical appliance cost 85 euro you are talking about professional practioners here who have spent years studying to get where they are including James Reilly don’t see any complaints here re having tp pay a tradesman to fix your electrical appliance or indeed any other professional for eg lawyer accountant dentist etc gp fee at 45 to 50 euro is the least expensive service provided
A stupid comparison Helen. How many machines could someone service in an hour? A GP can potentially see six patients in that time.
It was 20 million originally Ted but reduced to ten.
That is 50 per visit for each person. Could run 200 and more for a family. Plus private healthcare, as people who pay 50 euros do not have a medical card, add first referral payments which insurance does not cover, and one ends up with the third highest expense per month. Obviously, being a medic, James Reilly knows very well from inside what is broken in the system and is trying to change it. By the way, people can leave an entire life never using the service of a lawyer or accountant. So the comparison is irrelevant. Most of us have spent years studying but none of us constantly shoves it in the face of others.
I disagree it is not a stupid your word comparison any gp that sees 6 patients in an hour is rushing the consultation so you feel that a plumber deserves more for fixing a machine
No one is shoving it in the face of others we are all just having a discussion I disagree that most people would not need the services of a lawyer etc maybe your gp would charge 50 per person per family but that is not the case with all max 80 would be charged for a family of 3 James Reilly hasn’t a clue what’s going on
Would you prefer to pay the €50 when you are sick and get an apt within 2 days, or have to wait 2 weeks to see your GP if UHI is introduced? Because that’s what it all comes down to. I know I’d prefer the former.
Whether or not you are happy with the cost of GP as compared to other services, I don’t think it is fair to portray them as fat cats who just charge money for no reason. FYI there are family schemes for private patients in most GP surgerys which may lighten the load for some.
Fair enough non-medics go to college and train for years also, and I hope they are financially rewarded for their hard work too. I a just referring to GPs in this discussion.
Its more than likely the stubbornness of the patient in refusing to continually pay sky high fees to the rip off consultants
That’s closer to the reality, alright.
Do you include normal GPs and Doctors working 90 hour weeks in public hospitals in your term “rip off consultants” or are you just referring only to the private consultants who have their own private clinic which people do not have to go to if they do not want to? I presume the latter.
@Reg – You’re absolutely right. They are entitled to it. For the reasons you mentioned and more. The Govt are treating them as the enemy which wont end well for anyone – Docs, Govt, Us tax payers!
I love the word “entitled” Karl. There’s so many in this country suffering from the condition. I wonder if there’s a cure!
That word can be affiliated with people at both ends of the wealth spectrum. I look at two ways:
1) where people do nothing and expect everything in return.
2) people who work their asses off their whole life to continually better themselves, get loads of abuse, have no social life but at the end of the day happen to get a relatively large (and in my opinion deserved) salary.
My opinion is that Doctors fall into the second definition of entitled.
Maybe my view is too black and white..
This is all about protecting GP’s private earnings at the expense of the lower and middle earning public. They are private contractors and should be subject to market conditions like everyone else. Shameful behavior
That’s the nub of it.
Problem is Nicole, market conditions are increasing demand and dwindling supply.
That means – by your argument – GPs should be getting far more in return for the excellent service they provide.
I haven’t seen one comment from a GP about being worried about their private earnings being affected, they just all know the contract they are currently being offered is a joke.
Same thing…
No acknowledgment that you argued against yourself Nicole?
If it was the same thing then why are they saying they want negotiations on the contract? Rather than saying we wont accept any contract because we want private patients?
That’s because it is a joke you all should have a read of the contract
have your say