The Department of Agriculture is appointing an independent consultant to review the future of Regional Veterinary Laboratories around the country.
The Lab in Doonally county Sligo is one of the six regional labs nationwide, however three of these are now under threat of closure.
The recommendations were made in a working group report commissioned by the Department of Agriculture.
This information was leaked to farm organisations and led to a protest at the lab in Doonally in February.
If it were to close – it would mean farmers from as far away as Donegal would have to travel to Athlone to avail of the services provided at that facility.
In a statement to Ocean FM News this week, the Department has confirmed that it has now started the process of recruiting an independent consultant to do a cost-benefit analysis of proposals by the Working Group.
The department says that the outcome will be among the considerations that determine government policy on the future development of the Regional Veterinary Labs.
Commenting to Ocean FM News on this latest statement, Kevin Comiskey of the IFA in Leitrim says that it’s time the authorities stopped stalling on this issue and made a clear decision:
