The minister for agriculture, Donegal TD Charlie McConalogue will bring a proposal before the cabinet this morning aiming to ban fur farming in Ireland.
Ministers will be told the practice in this country will be ended by the start of next year.
The Donegal TD and agriculture Minister will ask his cabinet colleagues to allow him to draft a bill banning fur farming from early 2022.
It’s estimated there are around 120,000 mink on three farms based in counties Donegal, Laois and Kerry.
The owners of the farms will receive compensation under the plans.
The commitment around mink farming is in the programme for government but was expedited after concerns were raised about COVID cases in mink in other countries.
The bill is also likely to say that cats, chinchillas, dogs, foxes, mink, and weasels, including stoats, shall not be farmed for their fur or skin.
