Humphreys says she merely passed on letter in animal cruelty case and denies making political representations

The Minister for Social Protection has said she did not intervene in an alleged animal cruelty case that saw charges against a Monaghan farmer dropped by the Department of Agriculture.

A spokesman for Minister Heather Humphreys issue the following statement to The Anglo-Celt today on behalf of the Cavan Monaghan Fine Gael TD.

“Minister Humphreys received a letter from a constituent.

“The Minister was not in a position, nor was it her role, to investigate the concerns raised in the correspondence.

“The Minister simply passed the letter on to the appropriate Department. She did not give any view on, or make any representations in support of, the correspondence,” it read.

The case in question related to Brian Wright, a farmer from Killygorman, Newbliss, who had been due to stand trial at Monaghan District Court in February relating to the alleged discovery of injured and sick cattle on his 250-acre farm in February 2017.

The charges were withdrawn days after Minister Humphreys passed on a letter about the case, on January 29, to Brendan Gleeson, the secretary-general of the Department of Agriculture.

It's understood that the letter - not written by Mr Wright - outlined a number of concerns about the case.

The statement from Minister Humphreys' office this week said: “The Minister had no further involvement. Any action taken thereafter is a matter for the Department of Agriculture.

“The Department of Agriculture itself has previously confirmed that no political representations were made in relation to this case.”

In a statement on the issue last February, the Department said: "The decision taken to withdraw the prosecution in this case was taken by relevant DAFM Officials having regard to the full and individual circumstances of this case."

The issue resurfaced last weekend after the Sunday Times reported that a whistleblower has made a protected disclosure about the decision by the Department of Agriculture to drop the charges against Mr Wright, who was previously convicted of breaching animal health and welfare laws.

The farmer told The Irish Independent in February that he had “no idea” if the letter played a part in the charges being dropped against him.

In relation to the case against him, he said: “I've been working with the Department for years to try and get this resolved... I had done everything I was asked."