Vol. 530 No. 5
84 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development the measures that could be put in place to restore confidence in the beef industry; the controls and inspections now in place to protect the food industry; if he will consider a review of the recommendations currently in place; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4281/01]
Consumer confidence in the safety of Irish beef must be based on a full appreciation of the manner in which BSE has been dealt with over the past number of years and the effectiveness of the many layers of controls and checks in place. The controls are applied from farm level right through to slaughter and include strict controls on meat and bone meal rendering, SRM removal and destruction and feed manufacture. The BSE controls applied in Ireland have been described by the EU Commission scientific steering committee as being in the highest possible category.
I am satisfied that the measures in place, which are among the strictest in the world, are sufficient to offer consumers the maximum possible guarantees about the safety of the product. That said, the entire BSE situation is kept under review on an ongoing basis by the EU Commission, the FSAI and my own Department with a view to offering every reassurance possible to the consumer of Irish beef.
The loss of confidence in EU beef in some of our major markets arises, in particular, from recent developments in other member states of the EU which have only recently had their first BSE cases. The media reporting of these developments in the third countries in question has contributed to the situation and makes it difficult to differentiate between the BSE situation in Ireland and elsewhere within the EU. Every effort is being made at political, technical and diplomatic level to reassure those importing countries about the BSE situation as it applies in Ireland and the guarantees we can offer.
