‘I couldn’t sit back and watch these breaches persist’ says former department vet

Dr Tamara Bronckaers has received a £1.25million pay-out – the largest settlement of its kind in Northern Ireland – and a government apology, after an industrial tribunal found she had been constructively dismissed.

The action against DAERA related to serious breaches of animal welfare, failures regarding zoonoses control measures (i.e. transfer of disease from animals to humans) and traceability within the meat supply chain, which, ultimately, resulted in the vet’s constructive dismissal.

Now, Ms Bronckaers has spoken out, describing the past few years as “extremely harrowing” for her and her family.

She believes more than 20,000 animals were involved in “deleted moves” over the course of five years, and blasted the department for “failing in its duty to protect animal welfare”.

John McShane, a solicitor with McCartan Turkington Breen, who represent Dr Bronckaers, said the outcome is “wholly justified, bearing in mind the detriments she has suffered that have not only affected her career, but her family and her financial situation”.

Mr McShane continued: “I’m relieved for Dr Bronckaers that the result of the case has vindicated her instruction of McCartan Turkington Breen.

“However, this is bittersweet in the context of an employer willing to make spurious allegations against Dr Bronckaers to paint her in a negative light, and which resulted in a committed individual losing her job when she had done nothing wrong.

“It is also concerning that lessons are not being learned by the Northern Ireland Civil Service and this case is akin to the ‘Cash for Ash scandal.”

Dr Bronckaers stated: “This outcome has been a long time coming and I can move on in the knowledge that I did what was right, and I now have a long-waited and justified apology from the department.

“I witnessed first-hand animals suffering unnecessarily and believe that, over a five-year period, in excess of 20,000 animals were involved in deleted moves, which would have had significant implications for traceability within the supply chain.

“I strongly believed that the department was failing in its duty to protect animal welfare and, therefore, I couldn’t continue doing a job that I wasn’t being allowed to carry out ethically.

“I couldn’t sit back and watch these breaches persist.”

During the case, Dr Bronckaers made two arguments in relation to legislative failures, including that some livestock market operators were not adhering to their statutory duties and responsibilities, and that department officials were aware of this and failed to adhere to their responsibilities to enforce the relevant legislation.

Dr Bronckaers said failures involved deleting cattle moves under the Cattle Identification (Notice of Births, Deaths and Movements) Regulations (Northern Ireland 1999), alongside serious animal neglect and the movement of potentially TB infected cattle after they were purchased in a livestock market.

Solicitor John McShane continued: “I am quite simply astounded by Dr Bronckaers’ bravery.

“She was willing to do what was ethically right to the detriment of herself, her family, and her standard of living in retirement.

“It is a choice that very few people would make as the easier path would have been to keep quiet.

“Hopefully, the outcome of this landmark case provides reassurance that at the very least, those individuals who choose to whistle blow do have protection under the law,” he concluded.