Denis Naughten
Question:178 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the action she is taking to address the discrepancies with the mechanical grading of beef; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30535/04]
View answerWednesday, 24 November 2004
Questions (177)
Written answers
Mechanical beef carcass classification is a new technology and Ireland was the first EU country to approve its introduction on a commercial scale. Three systems were approved following authorisation tests conducted under the terms of EU Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1215/2003 and the system selected by the industry is now installed in 24 meat plants that account for almost 95% of our beef exports. The move to mechanical grading, which was provided for under Sustaining Progress, was achieved with the co-operation of the sector as a whole and it is generally accepted that the move will help the industry become more market orientated and better positioned to exploit the opportunities for Irish beef within the expanded EU.
As the competent authority my Department is required to carry out fortnightly inspections of the machines in the first year of operation and is exceeding that requirement. These inspections involve the selection of carcasses and the recording and analysing of these findings against the classification results determined by the machines. The results are forwarded to the system manufacturer for the purposes of identifying any difficulties being experienced and with a view to bringing about further refinements.
My Department will implement any such refinement if it can be definitely shown that the adjustments would result in a higher level of accuracy.