Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 20 Oct 1993

Vol. 434 No. 9

Written Answers. - Cattle Slaughtering Numbers.

Thomas Foxe

Ceist:

176 Mr. T. Foxe asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the weights, by category, of totally and partially condemned reactor cow, heifer, bullock and bull carcasses for each of the years 1988 to 1991 inclusive; the number and weight of immature carcasses condemned; and the number of reactors condemned ante-mortem.

Thomas Foxe

Ceist:

177 Mr. T. Foxe asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the number, by category, of bullocks, cows, heifers, bulls and veal calves slaughtered at registered meat export plants in each of the years, 1988 to 1991.

Thomas Foxe

Ceist:

178 Mr. T. Foxe asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the number, by category, of carcasses of reactor cattle totally condemned in each of the years 1988 to 1992 inclusive for TB, abscesses, emaciation and other reasons; the number of cattle condemned due to the presence of illegal substances; and if there has been any set pattern of condemnation over the past five years.

Thomas Foxe

Ceist:

179 Mr. T. Foxe asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry if, regarding cattle condemned for human consumption under the Fresh Meat Act, 1930, he will give the numbers of cows, bullocks, heifers and bulls slaughtered during each of the years 1988 to 1991 inclusive; and if, in relation to the meat condemned, he will give the number of carcasses and part carcasses condemned, the weight of the meat condemned, and the number of carcasses condemned due to illegal substances.

Thomas Foxe

Ceist:

180 Mr. T. Foxe asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the number of cattle slaughtered during each of the years 1988 to 1991 inclusive for having failed the TB and Brucellosis tests; the quantity of meat condemned as unfit for human consumption from these reactor cattle slaughtered during each of these years; and the reasons for condemnation under the categories of TB, abscesses, emaciated carcasses and other reasons.

Thomas Foxe

Ceist:

181 Mr. T. Foxe asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the number and type of carcasses condemned in each of the years 1988 to 1991 inclusive prior to weighing on the killing line; the number and type of carcasses condemned in each of these due to the presence of illegal substances; if any variations in the number of condemnations are detectable over the past five years; if, on the basis of the figures supplied, he can give any advice to cattle producers on the way they can minimise carcasses and part carcasses being condemned as unfit for human consumption.

Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry (Mr. J. Walsh)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 176, 177, 178, 179 180 and 181 together.

The information requested is provided in the following tabular statement based on data available to my Department. It should be noted with regard to calf slaughterings that these are usualy carried out under disease eradication measures rather than for veal. It should also be noted that condemnations usually arise on the basis of post mortem inspection or sampling.

The decision to condemn part or all of a carcase is taken on the basis of the product not being fit for human consumption. Condemnation of TB reactors because of emaciation is unusual. The information requested on weights of totally or partially condemned carcases or immature carcases condemned is not available as these are not normally weighed. The number of cattle slaughtered which has failed the TB and brucellosis tests is answered as part of Parliamentary Question No. 182.

Our records show that condemnations due to treatment with illegal substances as a percentage of cattle slaughterings increased from 0.01 per cent in 1989 to 0.03 per cent in 1992. The vast majority of condemnations are due to factors outside the control of farmers. However, producers should always ensure that their production methods do not entail any activity which could give rise to condemnation of their animals as being unfit for human consumption.

	Year	Cows	Heifers	Bullocks	Bulls	Calves	Total Cattle
1. Slaughterings at registered meat export plants	1988	230,455	137,179	846,499	9,832	1,381	1,225,346
	1989	231,487	144,270	759,351	10,186	1,960	1,147,254
	1990	261,726	210,828	875,525	10,634	2,875	1,361,588
	1991	308,124	255,428	918,364	11,958	2,629	1,496,503
2. Number of carcases condemned including partial condemnations in whole animal equivalents	1988	3,062	130	324	5	—	3,521
	1989	2,943	202	334	10	—	3,489
	1990	3,941	174	408	16	—	4,539
	1991	4,458	197	537	16	—	5,208
3. Number of cattle carcases and type of carcases condemned due to illegal substances	1988	—	—	—	—	—	72*
	1989	—	—	—	—	—	144*
	1990	—	—	—	—	—	159*
	1991	—	—	411	—	—	411
	1992	—	172	348	—	—	520

*Breakdown is not available for these years.

Thomas Foxe

Ceist:

182 Mr. T. Foxe asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the number and type of animals removed for slaughter in each of the years 1988 to 1991 inclusive under the TB scheme, the Brucellosis scheme and the BSE scheme.

Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry (Mr. J. Walsh)

The number of animals removed as reactors under the TB scheme in the years 1988 to 1991 were 29,994, 43,580, 41,419 and 36,832 respectively. The number of brucellosis reactors removed in the same years were 5,947, 8,774, 8,848 and 5,182 respectively.

Brucellosis reactors are all female animals whereas TB and BSE reactors would consist of animals of all categories.

In the case of BSE, it is the policy of my Department to facilitate the voluntary depopulation of the herd in which a case occurs; 2,857 and 3,288 animals were slaughtered respectively in 1990 and 1991 under this arrangement.