'Minister's statement raises more questions than it answers' - Wilson

Commenting, the DUP MLA said: “The Minister has attempted to draw a line under this deeply concerning incident, but his statement leaves many significant questions unanswered. Nobody disputes that there was a court order in place or that DAERA had responsibilities arising from that order. The real issue is whether the operation was planned and conducted appropriately, proportionately and competently.

“Perhaps the most glaring contradiction within the Minister’s own statement relates to DAERA’s repeated claim that there was ‘no reasonable alternative’ to euthanising these cattle. If there were genuinely no alternatives available, why did DAERA halt the operation to facilitate a potential sale? Why was a local farmer permitted to attempt to load animals onto a lorry? Why was time set aside to explore another outcome?

“The Minister cannot have it both ways. Either all alternatives had been fully exhausted before the operation commenced, or they had not. The fact that DAERA paused the cull to allow a potential transaction to take place raises legitimate questions about whether viable alternatives still existed at that stage.”

Mr Wilson said public confidence has been “badly damaged” by what happened.

“Eyewitness accounts, concerns raised by elected representatives and the strength of feeling across the farming community cannot simply be dismissed as misinformation or commentary based on misunderstanding” he said.

“The Minister also acknowledges that DAERA's original intention was to conduct an internal lessons-learned exercise before later deciding to appoint an external reviewer. Many people will conclude that this change only came about because of sustained public pressure.

“What farmers and the wider public now need is complete transparency. DAERA should publish the full options appraisal, veterinary advice, risk assessments and operational decision-making records which led to the conclusion that slaughtering 51 cattle in these circumstances was the only available course of action.

“The independent review must be genuinely independent, comprehensive and transparent. It must establish not only what happened on the day, but also whether alternative approaches were properly explored, whether planning was adequate and whether lessons need to be learned to ensure that an incident of this nature is never repeated.

“It is deeply regrettable that staff have become subject to abuse; this is clearly unacceptable and should be condemned. However, today's statement was intended to provide clarity.

“Instead, it has exposed inconsistencies and raised further concerns which cannot simply be ignored. I look forward to having the opportunity to address these issues at Monday's meeting of the AERA committee.”