Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 3 Mar 1998

Vol. 488 No. 1

Written Answers - Contaminated Beef Disposal.

Trevor Sargent

Ceist:

123 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if the condemned beef of all herds slaughtered following confirmation of cases of BSE is incinerated; if so, the names and addresses of the plants used for storage prior to the removal of the beef for incineration; the names and addresses of the plants to which the consignments of beef are transported for incineration; and the weight and date of each consignment since commencement of the incineration programme. [5683/98]

Trevor Sargent

Ceist:

124 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the route and the way in which each consignment of condemned beef, of herds in which cases of BSE have been confirmed, were conveyed to incineration plants in 1998; the total weight of condemned beef destined for incineration and still in storage; the total cost of the incineration; the cost of transport to incineration plants; and the way these costs are met. [5684/98]

Trevor Sargent

Ceist:

125 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the names and addresses of the dedicated plants since 1996 to which herds, in which BSE cases have been confirmed, are taken for slaughter; the number and weight of cattle of herds slaughtered at these plants since 1996; the nature of procedures and safeguards in place; and the number and the employer of veterinary surgeons posted full-time at these plants in 1988. [5685/98]

Trevor Sargent

Ceist:

126 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if the carcases of all herds, in which BSE is confirmed, are being rendered into meat and bonemeal; if so, the time period after slaughter within which rendering of the condemned carcases is carried out; the weight of such meat and bonemeal produced in the period 1996 to date; the names and addresses of the plants in which the rendering operations are undertaken; if plants are manned full-time by veterinary personnel; and the employer of these vets in each case. [5686/98]

Minister for Agriculture and Food (Mr. Walsh)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 123, 124, 125 and 126 together.

I have asked my Department officials to assemble the substantial body of detail sought by the Deputy and will forward this to him in the near future.

Trevor Sargent

Ceist:

127 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if the specified risk material of all slaughtered bovines must be isolated, stored and transported to a dedicated plant; if so, the names and addresses of the plants to which this material is consigned; the date on which mandatory removal of the material from meat plants or abattoirs was ordered by his Department; the total weight of all specified risk material transported to the plants in 1998; the way in which this material is disposed of at the plants and whether it is incinerated; if any of the material is rendered into meat and bonemeal; if so, the total weight of this material; the names and addresses of plants where this material is stored; the names and addresses of plants where disposal is carried out. [5687/98]

Minister for Agriculture and Food (Mr. Walsh)

The Diseases of Animals (BSE) (Specified Risk Material) Order, 1997 provides for the exclusion of specified risk materials from the human food and animal feed chains. Specified risk material is defined in this Order as follows: the skull, the brain, the eyes and spinal cord of bovines aged over 12 months; the skull, the brain, the eyes and spinal cord of a caprine or ovine animal which has a permanent incisor tooth erupted through the gum and the spleen of a caprine or ovine animal.

The Order was effective from 21 February 1997 and sets conditions for the removal, transport, processing, storage and final disposal of these materials.

At present there is one processing plant, Monery By-Products Limited, Crossdoney, County Cavan, approved by this Department to render these materials. The rendered product, all of which must be destroyed and cannot therefore be used for feed or any other purpose, is held in Department approved dedicated stores pending export for final disposal by incineration. So far this year, a total of 3,600 tonnes of SRM has been sent to Monery for rendering and ultimate destruction.

Trevor Sargent

Ceist:

128 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food whether, in cases where BSE is confirmed, animals additional to bovines are removed for slaughter or are slaughtered at the farm; if animals confirmed as being BSE infected are killed and buried within the affected farm; and the time period, after depopulation, in which herd restocking of the farm with bovines is permitted. [5688/98]

Minister for Agriculture and Food (Mr. Walsh)

There is no evidence of horizontal transmission of BSE. Accordingly, animals, other than bovines, are not slaughtered on confirmation of BSE in a bovine animal on farms. Where in the context of a BSE suspect an animal is killed for the purpose of taking a sample for a laboratory examination, the remainder of the carcase is buried on the farm under the direction of a departmental veterinary inspector. Restocking is permitted 30 days after cleansing and disinfection of the premises has been carried out to the satisfaction of a veterinary inspector.

Trevor Sargent

Ceist:

129 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if bovine herds, in farms adjoining those in which cases of BSE are confirmed, are removed for slaughter or subject to restriction or special observation or testing by his Department; and if adjoining herdowners are advised of the BSE outbreak by his Department. [5689/98]

Minister for Agriculture and Food (Mr. Walsh)

As there is no evidence of horizontal transmission of BSE, cattle on farms adjoining those in which a case of BSE is confirmed are not removed for slaughter or subjected to restrictions or testing. Neither is it the policy to advise adjoining herdowners of BSE outbreaks.

Trevor Sargent

Ceist:

130 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if herds, into which cohorts of cattle found to be BSE infected may have been transferred or sold, are removed for slaughter or subjected to restriction or special tests; and if notice of the BSE outbreak is advised to the owners of these herds by his Department. [5690/98]

Minister for Agriculture and Food (Mr. Walsh)

It is my Department's policy to trace the progeny and birth cohorts of BSE affected animals, to slaughter such cattle and to ensure that material from them does not enter the food or feed chains. This approach is taken for precautionary reasons based on the hypothesis that birth cohort animals are likely to have consumed similar feed to the affected animals while the possibility of maternal transmission of BSE has not been excluded. As there is no evidence of horizontal transmission of BSE, the other cattle in herds in which progeny and cohort cattle are located are not considered to be at any greater risk of contracting BSE than cattle elsewhere. Consequently, they are not slaughtered or subjected to restrictions or tests. The current owners of progeny and cohort animals are advised that these animals have been traced for BSE eradication purposes.

Trevor Sargent

Ceist:

131 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if herds of cattle, suspected of being BSE infected and returned for observation following rejection by factory or abattoir veterinary inspectors, are subsequently subjected to departmental restriction which prohibits the sale or movement of the herd from the farm. [5691/98]

Minister for Agriculture and Food (Mr. Walsh)

Following notification of a suspect case of BSE, the animal is inspected by a veterinary inspector of my Department. The animal may be kept under observation for a short period to confirm the clinical signs. If it is decided to treat the animal as a suspect BSE case, the veterinary inspector will restrict the entire herd pending further developments. If BSE is not confirmed, the herd will be derestricted. If BSE is confirmed, the entire herd will be slaughtered.

Trevor Sargent

Ceist:

132 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if the carcase of every bovine animal slaughtered for human consumption in meat plants and abattoirs is subject to laboratory testing for BSE; if so, the specimens taken from the carcases for analysis; where the laboratory for these tests is located; the parameters of the laboratory tests as carried out; and if, pending the outcome of the test, the carcase is stored with others in the production line. [5692/98]

Minister for Agriculture and Food (Mr. Walsh)

Any animal presented for slaughter for human consumption in meat plants or abattoirs must undergo ante-mortem inspections by Department veterinary inspectors to ensure that they do not manifest conditions which make them unfit for slaughter.

It is not the practice of my Department to test the carcases of all bovine animals which are slaughtered for human consumption for the presence of BSE. The thrust of my Department's policy and practices is directed towards ensuring that risk animals are not slaughtered for human consumption in the first place. To that end a range of measures is in place to ensure that animals affected by BSE, animals from herds in which a BSE affected animal has been detected or birth cohorts and progeny of any BSE affected animals do not enter the food or feed chains.