Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 12 Dec 1995

Vol. 459 No. 6

Adjournment Debate. - BSE Incidence.

Mr. Cowen

I thank you for allowing me to raise this matter on the Adjournment. The Irish beef trade, recently hit by savage cuts in export refunds, is now doubly threatened. BSE has been detected 160,000 times in the British herd. Enormous publicity has attended this disease and concern has been dramatically heightened about the human variant of that disease, Creutzfeld Jakob disease. The decision by some school authorities in the UK to take beef off their menus is a particularly dramatic issue which has had some effect on consumer opinion.

The immediate challenge to the Government is to ensure that Irish beef is not dragged down by problems with the British product. A 20 per cent drop in UK beef consumption means £50 million lost in Irish exports. In contrast to the 160,000 cases in the UK, there have been just over 100 cases in Ireland, all of which have been dealt with by a total extermination of the herds affected. It is evident that, in the long run, a quality programme which guarantees total traceability is required. The Minister must, as a matter of national importance, institute a system of grading and traceability. Some weeks ago, the same issue of who will pay was raised during the debate on the sheep crisis. The reality is that everyone is now paying dearly for the absence of a system of traceability.

What is required, but is sadly lacking, is a long-term vision of where we will be in ten years' time. The Minister was engaged last week in a desperate fire brigade measure. If he continues this policy of laissez faire, the Irish beef industry will be forever the victim of any and every scare, real and imagined.

The crisis, which has the potential if not properly dealt with to demolish our export markets, comes at a time when the beef trade has already been hit by accumulated and substantial reductions in beef export refunds. I recall the Minister saying a few weeks ago that the reduction in the export refunds would not in any way affect the price of cattle. However, anyone selling cattle this week knows the reality.

The combination of all these factors will be fully felt in the spring, if not earlier. In 1996 there will be a worse scenario of circumstances for the Irish beef trade. There is an onus on the Minister to exercise leadership. A major distinction has to be made in the consumer markets between any problems which exist in relation to indigenous beef in Britain and the extraordinary measures we have taken to ensure BSE is not a factor in the Irish national herd.

Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry (Mr. Yates)

I thank Deputy Cowen for raising this issue because I share his concerns about the implications for Irish beef producers and processors because of the situation in the UK market. BSE concerns have been a recurring feature of the beef trade since the disease was first diagnosed in the 1980s. BSE is a highly complex subject and the lack of full scientific knowledge of the disease has resulted in a number of unjustified scares regarding beef in general which can be difficult to counter.

The position is that Ireland has a very low incidence of the disease — there have been 13 cases this year and only 112 cases since 1989 out of a population of 7 million cattle. This compares to Britain where there have been 57,000 cases out of a population of 12 million cattle. Nevertheless, a comprehensive range of control measures has been put in place to isolate and eliminate the few cases which have occurred here. These controls include the compulsory notification of the disease and the destruction of affected animals under official supervision. We are the only country in Europe which depopulates the entire herd where there is one outbreak

The import of meat and bone meal from the UK, including Northern Ireland, is prohibited as is the feeding of such meal to ruminants, namely sheep and cattle. I pay tribute to the former Government who in 1990 put in place these controls. The food chain here is not in any danger. Imports of cattle from the UK, other than minor exceptions, are prohibited by the EU, while imports of meat products from the UK are subject to strict controls. Ante and post mortem examinations are carried out by qualified veterinarians to ensure that there is no possibility of suspect BSE animals getting into the food chain.

These controls go beyond what is required by scientific evidence or by international organisations. They are aimed at ensuring that BSE does not again gain a foothold in Ireland and, as importantly, serve to reassure consumers and our international customers that the reputation of Irish beef as a safe and quality product continues to be upheld. These controls have stood up to rigorous scrutiny and Irish beef continues to be exported to more than 60 countries worldwide. Indeed Irish traders have been very successful in expanding their exports, particularly to continental markets, in recent years.

It must be stated that the recent difficulties in the UK are not based on the emergence of new scientific facts. This underlines my earlier point that unjustified fears can only too easily be whipped up. Nevertheless the position is that once concerns have been raised, all beef consumption on a particular market is affected. A similar position occurred last year when the German market reacted to BSE related concerns and other similar cases have occurred across Europe.

It is very important to take action to restore confidence on the UK market and to increase beef consumption there which will be to the benefit of all producers, including Irish producers. The situation in the UK is currently under review. Consultations have been initiated with An Bord Bia and the beef industry. Senior officials at my Department had discussions with officials from both those organisations last night. A number of initiatives aimed at restoring UK consumer confidence in beef through an appropriate promotion campaign are under consideration. It is also proposed that a co-ordinated campaign should be targeted at the UK multiple chains which market Irish beef to fully explain the safety of our product. Assistance and information will also be provided to individual traders and buyers. The timing of a concerted campaign on the UK market will of course be crucial and this needs to be considered carefully in conjunction with the relevant agencies.

It is acknowledged that the UK continues to be a very important outlet for our beef and I intend to take every opportunity to address the matter that has arisen. Exports of our beef to the UK are worth £120 million per annum. I would welcome suggestions from Deputy Cowen and other members of the Opposition on how we can distinguish our beef, but we do not want to give rise to retaliatory action from the British authorities. Our beef was never a safer product. The stringent controls on depopulation, the ban on the feeding of meat and bone meal to cattle and other measures, including tighter veterinary surveillance, that we have put in place give me absolute confidence in assuring the Irish and British public that there is no danger associated with the consumption of our beef.

The Dáil adjourned at 9.05 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 13 December 1995.