Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 12 Apr 2001

Vol. 534 No. 5

Written Answers - Bovine Diseases.

John Gormley

Question:

99 Mr. Gormley asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development his views on the report published in a newspaper (details supplied) on 27 March 2001 from the British Foods Standards Committee based on the work of a person (details supplied) which contains the statement, that the risk of eating meat contaminated with BSE in Ireland is about 220 times greater than in Britain; if this is in fact the case; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11112/01]

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

I refer the Deputy to the Adjournment debate on 29 March in relation to the report in question. In summary, my position is that the study singularly failed to take into account the incidence of BSE in this country and the range of strict controls in place at farm level, at processing level and in feed manufacture. The compilation of the data for the UK report took place without reference to my Department. The range of measures put in place in Ireland ensures that consumers of Irish beef are not subject to unacceptable levels of risk. This has been confirmed by both the EU and the Food Safety Authority of Ireland based on detailed examinations of the systems in place. The EU Scientific Steering Committee classified Ireland as a low incidence country and has deemed the Irish control regime to be "optimally stable".