Mary Upton
Question:224 Dr. Upton asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the number of inspections carried out by his Department under contract to the Food Safety Authority of Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5265/03]
Written Answers - Food Safety Authority.
My Department has a service contract with the Food Safety Authority of Ireland covering the following sectors: meat hygiene, milk and milk products, eggs and egg products and pesticide residues. Three further sectors have been added to the revised service contract which is effective from the beginning of this year – the Border inspection posts, the national residue monitoring programme and the zoonoses directive. Under EU legislation, the veterinary public health service of the Department provides a permanent presence in the larger export licensed meat plants. The veterinary inspectors are responsible for the ante and post mortem inspection service, inspections of structural and operational hygiene standards and other controls.
In the meat hygiene sector, 1,146 premises and 83,879,861 animals, including poultry, were inspected in 2002. The number of inspections, by type of premises inspected is: permanently derogated abattoirs – export plants, 390; slaughtering and cutting establishments, 428; minced meat and meat preparation establishments, 66; meat products establishments, 175; poultry slaughtering establishments, 46; and cold stores, 41. The numbers of animals inspected at these premises was: cattle, 1,658,939; sheep, 2,911,301; pigs, 3,038,302; equines, 3,703; and poultry, 76,267,616.
The dairy produce inspectorate of my Department is responsible for the inspection of establishments manufacturing milk based products and the holdings on which milk for manufacturing is produced. The veterinary inspectorate is responsible for establishments which process milk for human consumption with the on-farm inspection of farms producing such milk carried out by veterinary officers employed by local authorities. The total number of inspections carried out by the Department for milk and milk products in 2002 amounted to 695. The Department is responsible for the enforcement of EU regulations governing the production and marketing of eggs from the farm to the retail outlet. This is done through inspection, sampling and surveillance of farms, packing centres, storage depots, wholesale premises and retail outlets. In 2002 there were 1,685 inspections of the following types of premises: free range, 158; packers, 111; retailers, 1,215; wholesalers, 99; hospitals, 82; and bakeries, 20. The final category of work within the FSAI service contract is pesticide residue monitoring. The foodstuffs tested for pesticides and metabolites are cereals, foodstuffs of animal origin, plant products including fruit and vegetables and processed foods. The total number of samples taken on such products in 2002 was 970 and each sample was tested for up to 89 pesticides and metabolites.
Questions Nos. 225 to 227, inclusive, answered with Question No. 220.