asked the Minister for Agriculture when the regulations under section 24 of the Agricultural Produce (Fresh Meat) Act, 1930 and section 38 of the Pigs and Bacon Act, 1935, in regard to the prohibition from employment in registered premises of persons suffering from specified diseases, were last reviewed; and the diseases currently specified and the method of enforcement.
Written Answers . - Employment Prohibition .
114.
: In accordance with Part V of the Agricultural Produce (Fresh Meat) (Beef, Pork and Mutton) Regulations, 1930 (S.I. No. 62 of 1930) the employment in a registered slaughtering premises of persons suffering from any disease mentioned hereunder is prohibited unless and until such person has been certified by a medical officer of Health as free from such disease, that is to say: (a) (i) any infections to which the Infectious Disease (Notification) Act, 1889, applies within the meaning of section 6 of that Act, (ii) pulmonary tuberculosis, (iii) venereal disease, (iv) bacterial food poisoning, (v) any disease of the skin on the face or hands unless the person suffering therefrom is certified by a Medical Officer of Health as fit to handle food intended for human consumption; (b) any person in respect of whom a medical officer of health has reported in pursuance of paragraph 2 of Part III of the second schedule of Public Health (Infectious Diseases) Regulations 1929 (Statutory Rules and Orders, 1929 No. 12) to the sanitary authority that such person is a carrier of enteric fever or diphtheria or dysentry infection is thereby prohibited unless and until such person is certified by the said medical officer of health as no longer being a carrier of such disease.
In practice meat export plants engage a local doctor to ensure compliance with the legal requirements.