Vol. 559 No. 2
78 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the number of cases of BSE which have been discovered to date in 2002; if he has satisfied himself with the controls which are in place to prevent BSE from entering the human food chain; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25748/02]
A total of 320 cases of BSE have been confirmed to date in 2002, including four cases from depopulated herds.
I am satisfied that a comprehensive range of measures is in place to protect consumers and for the control and eradication of BSE. Such measures are kept under constant review and if any adjustments are deemed necessary in the light of operational experience, I assure the Deputy that they will be made. Current controls include, inter alia, compulsory notification of the disease, whole herd depopulation, tracing and culling of birth cohorts and progeny of BSE-infected animals, a ban on feeding meat and bone meal to all farmed animals intended for human consumption, ante and post mortem inspections at all meat plants, the removal of SRM from the human food and animal feed chains, and a comprehensive active surveillance programme among all cattle over 30 months of age and all casualty cattle over 24 months of age in meat plants, all fallen cattle over 24 months of age in knackeries. To date, my Department has tested more than 1.3 million cattle, more than 1.2 million of which have been cattle over 30 months of age intended for human consumption.
It has been a characteristic of Ireland's approach to BSE that measures were more rigorous and were, in many instances, put in place earlier than required by EU legislation.
The purpose of the control programme is to protect human health by maintaining high standards of food safety and animal health and welfare, to safeguard the economically important beef industry and in due course to eradicate the disease from the national herd.
