Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 8 May 2019
1165. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the furthest possible distance that a clinically suspect BSE cow can be transported on the island of Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19068/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department's surveillance programme for BSE is a key cornerstone in the robust controls on BSE and is made up of active and passive surveillance components. The programme is applicable to bovine animals in Republic of Ireland only.
BSE is a notifiable disease and, as such, there is a legal obligation on farmers and private veterinary practitioners to report cases of bovine animals with suspect clinical signs of BSE to my Department. In such circumstances, the clinical suspect animal is euthanised and the carcass is transported to Athlone Regional Veterinary Laboratory (RVL) for further sampling and samples are sent to the Central Veterinary Laboratory in Backweston for further testing.
As all suspect BSE carcasses are transported to Athlone RVL for sampling, there is no limit on the distance the carcases can be transported.
