Vol. 517 No. 3
52 Mr. B. Smith asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development the feedback, if any, received from the EU Commission in relation to the mechanical grading trial for Irish beef cattle; the timescale for the introduction of this system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9709/00]
60 Mr. Penrose asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development if the trial of three systems for the mechanical beef carcass classification system has been subjected to a final evaluation at the Midleton meat plant, as promised, in the first two weeks of March 2000; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9695/00]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 52 and 60 together.
The trial of three mechanical beef classification systems has now completed its second evaluation stage. A report will be completed within the next weeks on the basis of which the manufacturers will be invited to refine the system further. This report will also be the basis for discussions with the EU Commission in order to set parameters at EU level for testing machines leading to the eventual introduction of a mechanical system.
The Commission has not yet adopted a position on the trial. However, it is evident from the standards set down in its draft proposal for a mechanical classification system that, while considerable progress has been made in developing a mechanical classification system, further work is needed to achieve a level of accuracy which would be acceptable to the Commission. I expect the companies involved to undertake this work over the coming months in conjunction with my Department and Teagasc in order to assess whether the accuracy of the machines can be improved to the standards set down in the draft proposal. Mechanical grading cannot be officially introduced until a machine is approved as meeting these standards.
