Vol. 416 No. 7
30 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if he intends to introduce legislation to enable slaughter houses or abattoirs catering for the domestic market to qualify for grant assistance on an equal footing with the meat processing plants; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
As total slaughtering capacity, both export and domestic, exceeds the national kill the current policy is to direct grant assistance to projects which are oriented towards value-added processing which would create employment and enhance the value of exports. In view of the current financial constraints it is not envisaged that this policy will change in the near future.
Under a recently adopted EC Directive the possibility of EC funding is also restricted to premises approved for intra-Community trade.
