Vol. 503 No. 3
229 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the reason for the discrepancy in the cost of incineration of animal heads in that charged to the butcher and that charged to an ordinary farmer (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9892/99]
Under existing legislation governing the disposal of animal offal, special provision is made for the disposal of specified risk material (SRM). This is defined as including the skull, brain, eyes, tonsils and spinal cord of cattle over one year old and of sheep and goats in which a permanent incisor tooth has emerged. This material must be removed from the animal at a licensed slaughtering premises or at a knackery and subsequently taken for disposal at a plant designated for that purpose.
The charges imposed by that plant for the service are a commercial matter and vary depending on the source of the material. In the case of material coming from individual farmers and from knackeries, the plant has agreed to charges which are considerably less than those applying to the slaughtering sector. These lower charges reflect the need to ensure that maximum use is made of the service as a means of disposing safely of SRM from fallen animals and to preventing uncontrolled or unlawful disposal.
