Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 22 May 1996

Vol. 465 No. 7

Written Answers. - BSE Herds.

Trevor Sargent

Ceist:

114 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry whether the livestock from a BSE herd are slaughtered on the farm or taken to a factory/abattoir to be killed; and whether there are special factories designated to kill BSE herds. [10493/96]

Trevor Sargent

Ceist:

117 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry whether carcasses from BSE-infected animals are totally destroyed; and if the carcasses are rendered down to bonemeal, buried or incinerated. [10496/96]

Trevor Sargent

Ceist:

118 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry whether the brains of the animals from recent BSE herds have been sent for scientific examination; and if so, the results of these tests. [10497/96]

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

I propose to take Questions Nos. 114, 117 and 118 together.

The carcasses from animals which are confirmed to have BSE are either incinerated or buried and do not enter either the human food or animal feed chain. The herds in which such animals are found are slaugthered and rendered following agreement on valuation with the herdowners concerned and products from these animals do not enter either the human food or animal feed chain. The abattoirs used for such slaughter are chosen by my Department on the basis of factors such as cost, geographical location, etc, and are dedicated to that purpose for the duration required. To date, 123 brains have been tested from ten herds in which a case of BSE has occurred and all have tested negative for BSE.