Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 April 2012
1100 Deputy Maureen O’Sullivan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide details on the measures that are in place to identify fecal contamination in slaughterhouse animals; if he will provide figures for the number of broilers, pigs, cattle, sheep and other animals that were identified by inspection as having fecal contamination in the years 2009, 2010 and 2011. [18399/12]
View answerThe Hygiene Package of regulation, which came into force in all European Union Member States on 1 January 2006, provides as follows in relation to cleanliness of livestock being presented for slaughter. Food business operators (FBOs) rearing animals or producing primary products of animal origin are to take adequate measures, as appropriate and as far as possible, to ensure the cleanliness of animals going to slaughter and, where necessary, production animals. FBOs operating slaughterhouses must have intake procedures to guarantee that each animal or, where appropriate, each lot of animals accepted onto the slaughterhouse premises is clean. In the event of failure to comply with any of the requirements the FBO must notify the official veterinarian and take appropriate measures.
The official veterinarian is to verify compliance with the FBO's duty under Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 to ensure that animals that have such hide conditions that there is an unacceptable risk of contamination of the meat during slaughter are not slaughtered for human consumption unless they are cleaned beforehand. Post-mortem examination is carried out on all species of slaughtered animals. On detection of faecal contamination by the Department appointed inspector, measures are taken to remove the risk of entry of any faecally contaminated meat to the human food chain.
My Department does not maintain a central database for the collation of data relating to faecal contamination for all species. The Department does however require FBOs at bovine slaughtering establishments to categorise the animals as follows:
A— Cattle that can be slaughtered, without an unacceptable risk of contaminating the meat during the slaughter process by using the standard hygienic dressing procedures routinely employed by the plant;
B— Cattle that can only be slaughtered without an unacceptable risk of contamination of the meat during the slaughter process, by putting in place extra defined hygienic dressing controls;
C— Cattle unfit for slaughter because of hide condition. These cattle must not be presented for ante mortem and it is the responsibility of the FBO to take the required remedial action with regard to these cattle.
I can advise the Deputy that the percentages of bovines in each category in 2010 were as follows:
A — 75%;
B — 24%;
C — less than 1%.
The corresponding figures for 2011 were:
A — 78%;
B — 21%;
C — less than 1%.
Comparable statistics are not available for 2009.
My Department has also actively publicised the requirements for primary producers to ensure that animals being sent for slaughter are clean, as well as guidance in that regard. This approach has included publication of articles in the farming press, information leaflets and mailshots to producers who have supplied animals that were categorised as less than fully compliant with the required level of cleanliness.
1101 Deputy Maureen O’Sullivan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide details on the number of broilers, pigs, cattle, sheep and other animals that slaughterhouse inspectors routinely examine per hour; the number of inspectors employed throughout the State to inspect slaughterhouse animals during slaughter and during processing. [18400/12]
View answer153 meat processing plants including 48 slaughterhouses currently operate under the supervision of my Department, in accordance with the terms of EU Food Hygiene Regulations. These plants are supervised by 53 veterinary inspectors (VIs) employed by the Department, assisted in their duties by 180 agricultural officers (AOs) and by temporary veterinary inspectors (TVIs) who are drawn from a pool of approximately 700 in total and contracted from private practice on a rota basis. Smaller local abattoirs are supervised by local authorities, operating under service contract to the Food Safety Authority of Ireland.
The numbers of the different species processed on a per hour basis in establishments which operate under the supervision of my Department vary depending on factors such as the size of the plant, the level of automation and overall throughput. Hourly throughput rates vary from approximately 5,000 to 12, 000 for broilers; 150 to 370 for pigs; and 150 to 200 for sheep. Cattle slaughter plants typically process about 50 animals per hour.
