Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 24 September 2008
1631 Deputy Seymour Crawford asked the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the information available on-line to the meat industry regarding individual farmers' herds; his views on whether industry should have access to the full herd records, that is, dates of calf births and so on; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31240/08]
View answerDuring the course of 2008, my Department replaced the Cattle Movement Monitoring System (CMMS) with the online Animal Identification and Movement (AIM) system in all export approved meat plants. My Department now provides the registration details and movement history electronically for the animals presented at the meat plant. This information replicates the data already available to the meat plant on passports. However it is important to note that meat plants do not have access to the herd details of any farmer.
