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A glitch with an online platform used for commercial sales was resolved today after many sales were canceled and animals were returned to farms unsold.
IT system failure collapsed the online bidding platform operated by a company with 17 sales for several hours today.
All marketplace sales are now done online due to Level 5 restrictions, which means that people bid on the animals they see in videos streamed from the markets.
One of the largest online platforms, LSL – Livestock Live – experienced problems and the platform was down for much of the day.
A spokesperson told RTÉ News they had a “server problem.” But hundreds of animals were left waiting in holding pens for the sales to take place before returning to the farms unsold.
The Irish Farmers Association said the government should review Tier 5 operating procedures in markets “as a matter of urgency.”
IFA President Tim Cullinan said: “Relying on the ‘online only’ system is too ambitious. The system has been adapting well as a complementary system to in-ring offerings.
“However, clear challenges have now emerged related to broadband and the ability of systems to cope with the volume of livestock and tenders during a busy time of year,” said Mr. Cullinan.
He said the Department of Agriculture must address the problems that have arisen.
“Everyone is doing their best, but protocols need to be revised to allow a limited number of shoppers around the ring, we need to allow some level of in-person negotiation once social distancing and other guidelines are fully and rigorously followed,” He said. He said.
The Agriculture Department said that markets affected by difficulties in conducting online auctions may need to invoke contingency measures.
A statement from the Department said that in the event of similar difficulties in the future, markets may need to implement “contingency measures for the prolonged retention of animals in the facilities or that animals must be returned to their herds of origin, to support better animal welfare. “
But he has indicated that there will be no changes to existing protocols that prevent buyers and sellers from being physically in the sales.
The statement read: “It is important to ensure that the necessary public health guidelines are followed.”
ICOS, which represents many markets, said the difficulties highlighted the problem with online-only sales.
“This is an exceptional situation,” said Ray Doyle of ICOS.
“We cannot leave hundreds of animals waiting to be sold for hours on end. Some contingency must be agreed when IT problems stall sales.”
This is a very busy time of year with many farmers selling weaned.
RTÉ News spoke to numerous markets where sales stalled today.
The Irish Tuesday Managers Association said the issue presented animal welfare issues and should be resolved immediately.
Marts use various online platforms and LSL is among the most popular.
MartEye and MartBids, two of the other popular platforms, were not experiencing any problems and sales continued normally.
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