Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 7 Mar 2000

Vol. 515 No. 6

Written Answers. - Waste Disposal.

Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development (Mr. Walsh)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 108 to 111, inclusive, and No. 113 together.

A preferred option for disposal of BSE-suspect carcases would be the incineration of the entire carcase. There is, however, no suitable public or commercial incineration facility available in Ireland at present. Consequently, as acknowledged by the relevant EU authorities, there is no immediately available alternative to disposal of such carcases other than by burial under strict conditions. The burials which take place involve individual BSE-suspect animals, from which the heads have first been removed and taken for laboratory examination. Such burials take place on the farm of origin under very strict conditions. In excess of 50% of all suspects buried on farms prove negative for BSE. When a BSE suspect has been confirmed positive, after laboratory examination of brain tissue, the remaining animals in the herd are all slaughtered at a designated plant, rendered and destroyed. None of this material is buried on farms or landfill sites. In all cases of burial, the rules of regulation 4 of S.I. 257 of 1994 must be followed. Suspect carcases are buried under license from my Department and under the direct supervision of a Departmental veterinarian. This officer ensures that: the site is located away from water courses; the burial pit is dug to a depth of 10 feet; the head is removed at the edge of the pit and any contaminated soil is buried; and the carcase is covered in quicklime, to accelerate decomposition, before being covered in soil.

My Department is exploring other options for the disposal of carcases and is anxious to identify and secure feasible arrangements which would enable it to dispense at the earliest opportunity with the need to bury BSE suspect carcases.

The extensive control measures put in place by my Department as soon as BSE first emerged are supplemented by the removal of materials designated as specified risk material from both the human food and animal feed chains, a prohibition on the use of meat and bonemeal for ruminant animals and a comprehensive set of licensing and control measures for feeding stuffs which are rigorously enforced by my Department. All the removed SRM material is destroyed and is disposed of outside the State.

The Deputy will be aware that the incidence of BSE in Ireland is extremely low. In 1999 a total of 95 animals were confirmed as having BSE, from a national herd of close to 8 million cattle. This equates to a disease incidence risk of one in 100,000 or 0.001%. While it is disappointing, although not entirely surprising that the overall numbers were somewhat higher in 1999, there are positive indications as regards this disease, in particular the fact that the age profile of animals infected with BSE is increasing. Fewer animals under five years of age are being detected and in 1999 none of the infected animals was less than four years of age. This would suggest that provided we continue to rigorously apply our comprehensive controls, the level of confirmed cases of the disease may have peaked.

The recently published report of the scientific advisory committee on BSE established by the Minister for Agriculture and Food in 1996 acknowledged the comprehensive regulatory system in place to control the spread of BSE and ultimately to eliminate it from the Irish cattle population. The committee found these comprehensive measures, which go beyond those recommended at international level, to be satisfactory and recommended that they be kept under constant review and updated where necessary. This is done by my Department as a matter of course. In addition, these controls are audited on an on-going basis by the food and veterinary office of the EU Commission which has found them to be generally satisfactory.

The newly developed cattle movement monitoring system, CMMS, system is already capable of tracing animals and pinpointing animal location with a high degree of accuracy and has been used to good effect to locate the birth cohorts and the progeny of BSE animals. Currently there are more than 40 million individual events recorded on the database regarding animal births and animal locations. The further development of the system will in due course fill in any remaining information gaps about animal movements, thus providing a comprehensive record of Irish cattle from birth to slaughter.

Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development (Mr. Walsh)

Veterinary officials of my Department carry out ante mortem inspections of all cattle presented for slaughter at meat plants. Any animals showing clinical signs or symptoms of BSE are removed from the plant and are prevented from entering the food chain.

All specified risk material, the skull, the brain, the eyes and spinal cord of cattle aged over 12 months is removed, specially stained and sent for rendering and incineration. The system is tightly audited by my Department, the Food Safety Authority and the European Union to ensure compliance.

I am satisfied that the measures in place are being effectively applied.

Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development (Mr. Walsh)

Ireland's specified risk material, SRM, removal policy is in line with the Community wide policy set down in Commission decision 97/534/EC. While the implementation of this decision has not, as yet, been agreed by member states, Ireland unilaterally introduced these SRM rules in February 1997 in the diseases of animals (BSE) (specified risk material) order, 1997 (S.I. No. 80 of 1997). The list of SRMs is kept under constant review with particular regard to the scientific proposals and recommendations at EU level. Ireland last amended its list of SRMs in 1998.

I am satisfied with the implementation of SRM rules in the slaughter plants under my control and that they meet the required standard. The SRM provisions in these plants are audited by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland and also by the EU to ensure compliance.