Chris Flood
Ceist:45 Mr. Flood asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry if he will make a statement on his Department's supervisory costs for deboning; and his views on its relative value for money. [8431/97]
Written Answers. - Meat Inspection Service.
As part of the meat inspection service, my Department carries out the supervision of deboning operations in export approved meat plants, at a cost of approximately £1.5 million, of which close to £1 million is recouped from the meat industry under the current system of cost recovery for the meat inspection service. Part of the cost relates to the supervision of market measures, such as intervention and export refunds, and are not legally recoverable from the industry. It is my intention to introduce a system of full cost recovery for the service provided to the beef sector later this year.
In view of the importance, both in terms of human health and market confidence, of an independent system of hygiene control of meat for human consumption, this expenditure is fully justified.