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Seanad Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 12 Nov 1997

Vol. 152 No. 11

Adjournment Matters. - Abattoir Regulations.

My Adjournment matter reads: "That the Minister for Agriculture and Food address the structures and operations of small abattoirs".

I wish to share my time with Senator Connor who has an interest in this matter. He has also raised it on the Order of Business.

Is that agreed? Agreed.

I would like to provide some historical background to this matter. The Irish Butchers' Association represents approximately 400 abattoir owners. They slaughter fewer than 1,000 cattle units per annum in premises which have been adapted and licensed for this use under the Abattoirs Act, 1989, and extended by the EU Fresh Meat Directive 64/433. The regulations were amended again by EU Council Directive 91/497. These regulations are relevant to the debate on the current situation.

By their nature these abattoirs are small units providing for a small throughput. The majority are simply used to supply butchers' shops in their immediate locality. They are located throughout the country, largely in rural areas, providing a necessary outlet for farmers from whom abattoir owners buy produce for slaughter and sale to local markets. For the majority of abattoir owners this has been the procedure for generations.

From 1989 abattoir owners were required to bring their premises up to standards required by the regulations to which I have already referred. These regulations required a radical overhaul of abattoirs. The 1989 regulations required abattoir owners, without grant aid or tax incentives, to adapt their premises to comply with extensive EU regulations.

The 1989 regulations applied the same standards to large meat factories and small abattoirs without any derogation or exemption. This gave rise to the complications we have now. The only allowance given to abattoirs was that each owner would be allowed a maximum of five years to bring their premises up to the required licensing standard. In the meantime owners were permitted to provide a service if they were attending to upgrading works.

The message to abattoir owners was clear — if they did not bring their premises up to standard they would be closed down. Because many abattoir owners were unable to bring their premises up to that standard due to financial constraints, they were closed by the Department of Agriculture and Food. Members of the Irish Butchers' Association represent all abattoir owners who brought their premises up to the hygiene standards required under the 1989 regulations and who received licences from the Department of Agriculture and Food.

Structural standards must be observed by all abattoir owners involved in the production of fresh meat, including small abattoirs. The legislation provided for derogations for small abattoirs and there were extensive discussions with the Department at that time. Exemptions from some of the requirements of the 1991 EU directive were granted to small abattoir owners whose throughput capacity did not exceed 1,000 cattle units per annum. The Department wrote to each abattoir owner explaining the position and invited them to advise the Department of their throughput. More importantly, the Department advised them of the special and generous conditions for approval which were already applicable under the Abattoirs Act. This is the kernel of what is involved.

The Department pointed out in no uncertain terms that provided each abattoir owner complied with the 1989 regulations they had nothing to fear concerning further works or requirements because the 1989 regulations equated to the 1991 EU Council Directive. Relying on this advice and the assurance given by the Department and its officials, IBA members continued their work and spent a total of £17 million bringing their premises up to the required standards without grant aid or other financial assistance.

Having completed the works required under the 1989 regulations and having received assurances from the Department, IBA members were licensed and, as such, they were happy that their future livelihoods would be secure. Having spent substantial sums of money on their abattoirs, the meat market received a serious blow in 1995, 1996 and 1997 as a result of the BSE crisis. This put enormous financial pressure on all sectors of the beef industry and more significantly on the small operators who had spent substantial sums on their premises.

Large abattoir owners with a throughput in excess of 1,000 cattle units per annum, were able to obtain substantial grant aid for upgrading their premises to EU levels. Many of the small abattoirs supplying small butchers' shops, however, face financial ruin as a result of BSE. No assistance has been given to them despite the fact that practically every week support measures are provided for other sectors in the beef industry. In a recent decision, to quote one instance, the EU Council of Agriculture Ministers shared out 500 million ECUs among 15 member states in exceptional aid for the immediate restoration of the beef sector following the BSE crisis. Not one penny, however, was given to the small abattoirs for local market supplies. No financial assistance and no programme of revitalisation was provided for local beef or lamb markets supplied by the Irish Butchers' Association. Nothing has been put in place despite the fact that EU regulations govern a programme for the promotion and marketing of beef and lamb with financial assistance from the EU.

This small boutique-type industry, which has been in existence for over 150 years and currently employs 5,000 people, is on its knees because it cannot meet the regulatory requirements due to financial problems. The Irish Butchers' Association recently received a letter from the Department of Agriculture and Food stating that it is not in a position to provide financial assistance. This is unfortunate. We must address this problem which has been there for some years. The responsibility does not lie with the Minister, although he will have to take up the cudgels on behalf of small abattoir owners who have incurred costs of approximately £17.5 million in upgrading their premises.

They are now being obliged to overhaul their premises to suit new requirements by the Department of Agriculture and Food. This will cost a further £20 million because the works already completed will have to be scrapped and restarted to accommodate new requirements. Many premises cannot be adapted structurally to the new regime. Abattoir owners would not have undertaken the works in the first instance, under the 1989 regulations based on the advice of the Department, if they had been made aware that further requirements would be needed later. No advice or representation was made by the Department at that time concerning the possibility of further works.

The Irish Butchers' Association has already voiced its objection to the Department and since late 1996 it has been advised that no grants, tax incentives or other financial assistance will be given. The IBA has been told that unless its members' premises are brought up to the required standards they will be closed down. This motion calls on the Government to address this matter.

Consumers throughout the EU are entitled to have a high level of hygiene in all abattoirs, irrespective of their throughput. This requirement is to be applauded. Ireland has a long tradition of local abattoirs supplying fresh meat to rural and urban communities. In the main, these premises were in private ownership although some of the large urban communities deferred by having a central public abattoir. In all cases the central abattoirs have been closed by local government and have either been demolished or sold to private butchers. The primary reason was the cost of running them.

Virtually every town in Ireland has immediate access to its own privately owned abattoir, something which should be safeguarded. It is essential that the following measures be taken by the Department to provide assistance to small abattoir owners to prevent them going out of business. Funding must be provided for any further works which have to be completed, whether to comply with EU Directives 91/497 and 95/23 or any further directives the EU may introduce. In the case of small abattoirs, the EU has the option to reconsider derogation granted in 1991 and this year. The funding required would be through special measures by way of grant assistance to support this sector of the beef industry together with tax incentive measures to provide appropriate financial assistance to abattoir owners to help prevent financial ruin.

Rural communities are dependent on individual livestock producers who tend to produce their needs directly from their local areas. The presence of a private based abattoir plant provides the livestock producer with a ready outlet for his produce — the live animal. Concentrating animal slaughter in a limited number of large abattoirs will result in the creation of a virtual monopoly which will be detrimental to the interests of the consumer and the livestock producer. It could be construed as contradicting the spirit, if not the letter, of the Treaty of Rome.

Accordingly, to prevent such a monopoly and to provide open and free competition it is essential that smaller abattoirs are not closed down under EU Directive 64/443, as amended and extended, but are allowed to continue to service the needs of the local community. If this does not happen, the consequences for the farmer will be that the only outlet for his produce will be the larger export factories. This will lead to a monopoly leaving farmers, especially small farmers, at the whim of the large factory owners with regard to price and slaughtering.

This is the biggest danger if EU Directive 64/443, as amended and extended, is to be implemented without financial assistance being given to the domestic abattoir from the EU and the Government. Some 80 per cent of the fresh meat consumed on the Irish home market comes from small and medium sized domestic private abattoirs. If this directive were to be complied with and no financial assistance given then a large number of private enterprises would cease, thereby abandoning the meat trade to a small number of large abattoirs within Ireland. This will not only fix the price for export but it will also fix the price paid to the producer for every bovine, sheep and pig in Ireland. In addition, it is natural to assume that large abattoirs could fix this cost on all meats going to the retail outlets resulting in the control of the retail price of meats sold in Ireland. That would be serious.

A precedent has already been set by the EU by giving financial assistance to large abattoirs. The Department is aware that EU Structural Funds were obtained for large abattoirs in the last five years. Action is required in the interest of small abattoirs. I hope the Government will address the matter.

I congratulate Senator Finneran on raising this matter. I raised it on the Adjournment some weeks ago. When I was last elected to the Seanad in 1987 I was appointed by my then party leader in the House to be spokesperon on Agriculture. The first legislation I had to deal with was the Abattoirs Act.

The high street butcher services us all. He must ensure that the standard of his premises is the same as abattoirs which slaughter for the export trade and are heavily subsidised by grant aid from the EU. In view of this, Senator Finneran calls on the Government to assist the butcher.

However, I refer the Senator to page 103 of the Fianna Fáil general election manifesto, which is presumably Government policy. The third paragraph states: "Fianna Fáil in Government will provide an incentive package to assist the necessary upgrading of abattoirs as a component of the overall emphasis on food quality and food safety." Will the Minister elaborate on this in her reply and indicate the kind of funding which family butchers will receive?

I am speaking on behalf of the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Deputy Joe Walsh, who extends his apologies to the House. He had an outstanding commitment. When I was Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise and Employment I met a group representing small abattoirs and the butchers' association on two occasions in 1992. They were upset about the requirements laid down in 1989 and in the EU directive of 1991. The introduction of new demands is untimely and presents them with difficulties.

The Minister for Agriculture and Food met the committee of the small abattoir group today to discuss the report of an expert group on the structures and operations of small abattoirs. There was a comprehensive discussion of the various issues as well as some recent developments affecting the beef sector as a whole. Among the issues raised were works carried out to their abattoirs to date and further works which may be required. The Abattoirs Act, 1988, was enacted to address public health concerns regarding the production of meat in local abattoirs, the aim being to ensure that meat produced in these premises met the same high standards for public health as that produced in the large plants which were subject to EU rules.

With the advent of the Single Market, EU rules for meat production were extended to all meat producing premises, including small abattoirs. Following the visit of a EU inspection team in 1994, it became clear that regulations adopted in 1989 did not comply with EU requirements and it became necessary to amend the 1989 regulations pursuant to our obligations under the treaty. These amendments were circulated recently to all involved, including small abattoirs. The Minister will continue the consultative process on that.

The Minister also recognises the economic difficulties for small abattoirs of complying with the requirements of the Abattoirs Act. Nevertheless, there is the need for adherence to the highest standards in food, which is recognised by all. If the consumers will not purchase there will be no sales. Small abattoirs run by local butchers know their customers and know how to service and deal with them. They are an essential part of the local trading requirement of an area.

The move in all sectors of industry is towards rationalisation of facilities to improve competitiveness. Forbairt is in the process of undertaking a study on this. Small abattoirs now face enormous competition from supermarkets while the changing pattern of food consumption and BSE have also brought their own difficulties. They must develop a strategy for their continued survival which takes into account economic realities as well as changing consumer patterns and demands. On the positive side, with the ever increasing emphasis on traceability and product labelling, small abattoirs are well placed to comply with those demands.

As the submissions cover a wide range of issues, the Minister has arranged for his officials to meet representatives of the committee in the coming days to deal with these matters. I suggest that the points raised during this debate form part of those consultations and I will ask my colleague to take account of the views expressed by Senators Finneran and Connor.

The Seanad adjourned at 10.30 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Thursday, 13 November 1997.

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