Cecilia Keaveney
Question:389 Cecilia Keaveney asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the current position in relation to the animal location file; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8199/97]
Written Answers. - Animal Location File.
During February a computer facility known as the animal location file (ALF) was made available to the Department's veterinary control and certification staff throughout the country. ALF is stored in a mainframe computer at the Department's headquarters and is available on-line to the staff through the Department's communication network.
ALF includes bovine animal data from the following sources: Database of headage-premium schemes; animals recorded in ERAD special category herds; animals registered under the calf birth registration scheme; animals slaughtered at meat plants and at local abattoirs; animals exported live.
Using these sources, ALF is able to give important location information on a large number of individual bovine animals, thus helping us to provide significant additional reassurances as regards the origin and status of our cattle and beef. The information is available by inquiry to the ALF database using the animal's eartag code.