Mary Wallace (Meath, Fianna Fail)

The safe disposal of specified risk material, SRM, and other offal plays an important part in the protection of human and animal health and is an integral part of the EU legally enforced BSE controls in the meat sector. Conscious of the need to protect consumer health from vCJD, the human form of BSE, Ireland has consistently supported control measures to exclude from the food chain products of animal origin which may pose a risk to human health.

Under EU and national legislation it is a requirement that SRM, consisting of certain offal, including the skull, spinal cord, eyes and other specified material of cattle and sheep over 12 months of age, be separately collected, transported, processed and disposed of outside of the feed chain. In practice this material is separated from other animal offal at slaughter plants and butchers' premises, dyed and sent to dedicated rendering plants which are under the veterinary supervision of my Department for rendering into meat and bonemeal and tallow. The meat and bonemeal derived from the SRM is disposed of by incineration in other member states. The tallow is generally burned as an alternative fuel at the rendering plants. More recently, some meat processing plants have begun to use tallow as a fuel in thermal boilers to produce heated water and steam. To do so, the operator must be approved by the Department.

The controls at high capacity meat establishments are overseen by the Department's veterinary inspectorate and those at low capacity meat establishments by the local authority veterinary services. The Department and the local authorities operate under service contracts with the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, which also has a statutory role in auditing the procedures and the food safety controls in place throughout the meat industry. The EU Food and Veterinary Office also audits and reports on the controls in place at meat plants, including those relating to the removal and disposal of SRM. The various audits on the SRM controls operated by my Department have indicated that they are satisfactory.

In 2005 there were nine breaches of the SRM controls recorded. All the product in respect of eight of these breaches was destroyed to ensure it did not enter the food chain. In respect of the other breach, bovine carcase product containing SRM was delivered to a plant not authorised to process such product. This product was subsequently transported under official control to an authorised plant where controlled SRM removal took place.

Our Department will continue to monitor the implementation of the BSE and SRM controls to ensure compliance with all EU and national legislation. In conjunction with the EPA and the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, my Department continues to consider all possible options for the safe disposal of such material.

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