London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

Whistleblower vet awarded £1.25m settlement and apology from DAERA

Whistleblower vet awarded £1.25m settlement and apology from DAERA

A former government vet has received a £1.25m settlement from the Department of Agriculture and Environment, along with an "unreserved" apology.

Dr Tamara Bronckaers resigned from the Department in 2018.

This came after concerns she raised about animal welfare and failures in traceability in the meat supply chain were not acted on.

An industrial tribunal in September 2021 found she had been constructively dismissed.

The department dropped its appeal against that decision earlier this month.

On Monday, it issued a statement in which it apologised to Ms Bronckaers for the "hurt and distress caused".

In a statement issued by her solicitors, McCartan Turkington Breen, Dr Bronckaers said the last few years had been "extremely harrowing", and she could now "move on in the knowledge that I did what was right".

Dr Bronckaers had worked at the department for 19 years before she resigned in February 2018.

The industrial tribunal heard she was regarded as an expert on livestock market legislation.

Her responsibilities included livestock markets, biosecurity and zoonoses - diseases that can move between animals and humans.

Dr Bronckaers had identified serious failings in animal welfare at some livestock markets, and the abuse of a process called "deleted moves".

That was a process whereby a dealer would buy an animal, without having someone to immediately sell it on to.

The move was allowed to be deleted when the animal did not leave the market before being sold on.

But Dr Bronckaers found out that the animal would sometimes leave the market to join the dealer's herd for a period of time before a buyer was found, and that move would then be deleted from the section of the tracing system that was visible in markets.

It remained in the section visible at departmental level.

Animals with fewer moves in their history are more valuable.

That, Dr Bronckaers claimed, could affect the traceability of meat within the food supply chain and have an impact on the spread of disease in cattle, in particular tuberculosis.

She told the tribunal that 4,800 to 5,000 animals were having their moves deleted out of livestock markets every year.

'Sheep were empty looking'


Dr Bronckaers also took photographic evidence of alleged animal abuse at Ballymena Livestock Market after a tip-off that sheep had been kept there overnight.

By law, sheep may be left overnight at a livestock market but must have bedding, water and food.

Dr Bronckaers told the tribunal last year some livestock market operators were not adhering to statutory duties


However Dr Bronckaers said she found pens overcrowded with sheep and a lack of food and drink.

"The sheep were empty looking - which means their sides were fallen in as they weren't fed.

"Sheep don't usually drink out of a bucket easily but they were coming for it in the bucket."

She added: "While we were there a double-decker lorry arrived with 100-plus sheep and they were just loaded in to the pens in the yard.

"The legislation is very specific about the need for the market to be fenced and disinfected before another sale to break the risk of disease spreading.

"That was also worrying."

In a statement, Ballymena Livestock Market said it had "zero tolerance when it comes to animal cruelty" and regrets "if there were any instances where those standards were less than what we ourselves demand".

"We have re-examined what happened in the case referenced during the employment tribunal and must acknowledge our disappointment at what was alleged.

"The alleged incident occurred five years ago. Our animal welfare systems then were robust and in the intervening period, they have been further enhanced and strengthened.

"Hay and water are provided to animals left overnight and pens continue to be regularly disinfected."

'Intimidating, patronising, belittling'


Dr Bronckaers said her concerns over livestock movement and Ballymena Livestock Market were reported to colleagues, including her line manager Dr Julian Henderson, but not acted on.

Many of her e-mails were ignored.

The tribunal judge said Dr Bronckaers had been reasonable to persist in raising her concerns, and that she had been professionally ignored, undermined and excluded by Dr Henderson in particular.

He has recently been temporarily promoted to the post of deputy chief vet.

The judge also found it was reasonable for Dr Bronckaers to regard the chief vet Robert Huey's actions towards her as "intimidating, patronising, belittling and dismissive of her as a professional".

Dr Bronckaers said the past few years have been "harrowing"


Speaking to The Nolan Show, Dr Bronckaers explained why it was so important that her concerns should have been taken more seriously.

Some £40m a year is spent trying to keep TB out of herds in Northern Ireland, according to the department.

"That's why I was worried," she said.

"As vets we have to trace back all animals in a TB herd and there was no way we could see where these animals came from so we were missing potentially a source of TB infection."

She said the process had affected her mental health and family life.

"I wasn't sleeping. I was crying a lot going into work. I didn't know from day to day what would happen," she told the programme.

"Anyone who has a profession you don't go home and switch off. I'm a vet - that's my life," she added.

Dr Bronckaers' solicitor said the £1.25m settlement was the largest of its type in Northern Ireland.

"The outcome for Dr Bronckaers 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," said John McShane.

'Ethically right'


"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."

Dr Bronckaers said she "strongly believed 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," she said.

"The past few years have been extremely harrowing for me and my family.

"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-awaited and justified apology from the department."

The department said that following the outcome of the case in October 2021, the department established an Internal Audit Review of Cattle Traceability System within the Veterinary Animal Health Group.

"The department can reassure the public and the agri-food industry that it will continue to review its risk management tools and will seek to strengthen the controls where necessary for animal traceability to ensure continued confidence in the system," it said.

"The department takes extremely seriously all the matters which contributed to the outcome of the recent tribunal and will be progressing an internal review into them. This review is being undertaken with urgency and will be completed at pace."


Dr Tamara Bronckaers: "It made me fearful going into work."


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
After 200,000 Orders in 2 Minutes: Xiaomi Accelerates Marketing in Europe
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
MSNBC Rebrands as MS NOW Amid Comcast’s Cable Spin-Off
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
William and Kate Are Moving House – and the New Neighbors Were Evicted
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
Taylor Swift on the Way to the Super Bowl? All the Clues Stirring Up Fans
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Apple Expands Social Media Presence in China With RedNote Account Ahead of iPhone 17 Launch
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Bill Barr Testifies No Evidence Implicated Trump in Epstein Case; DOJ Set to Release Records
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
Emails Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
JPMorgan Plans New Canary Wharf Tower
Zelenskyy and his allies say they will press Trump on security guarantees
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
The Drought in Britain and the Strange Request from the Government to Delete Old Emails
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
"No, Thanks": The Mathematical Genius Who Turned Down 1.5 Billion Dollars from Zuckerberg
The surprising hero, the ugly incident, and the criticism despite victory: "Liverpool’s defense exposed in full"
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
×