Vol. 550 No. 2
203 Mr. McGrath asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the number of domestic abattoirs has been reduced by 141 since June 1997; the reason this has happened; if he gave written undertakings to butchers that he will introduce a grant scheme to enable those abattoirs to be upgraded; the reason he did not introduce such a grant scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8274/02]
The rationalisation of the domestic abattoir sector is due to a number of factors including competition in the market, developments in the retail sale of meat and the application of minimum EU standards for hygiene. Given the absolute priority of food safety and the protection of the consumer, the regulations designed to achieve these objectives must of course be fully complied with, and where they are not adhered to, my Department has no option but to refuse to issue licenses. With regard to grant assistance, provision was made under the national development plan for the food sector, to assist capital projects in the livestock sector, including domestic abattoirs. The rate of aid is 40% of approved eligible costs and generally investments exceeding €100,000 will be considered for assistance. I am pleased to say that in a recent review of requests for assistance under the NDP, out of nine applications submitted by domestic abattoir operators, three have qualified for assistance.
