Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 29 April 2010
25 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will provide a full breakdown of the beef carcass classification results since 15 December 2009 based on the Meat Industry Ireland price grid; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16927/10]
View answer35 Deputy Willie Penrose asked the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the steps that are being taken to address the anomalies which have come to light in the grading system for beef; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16916/10]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 25 and 35 together.
I wish to assure the Deputy that the mechanical classification system for beef carcases continues to operate well within the performance criteria provided for in the relevant EU Regulations. Officials of my Department carry out regular checks on each of the 23 machines operating in beef processing plants. The classification results, including sub-classes within each main class, backdated to mid February, will be available once computer programmes are completed to generate the required reports. Results prior to mid-February may not, however, be available for all beef processing plants, as the computer programmes in some plants, for price reporting to the Department, had to be amended following the introduction of sub-classes for classifying beef carcases.
