Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish to make it clear at the outset that from birth, via the suckler cow welfare scheme, through to slaughter, Irish cattle are the most traceable in the world. Traceability is only as good as its weakest link. Traditionally, this has been a difficulty with processed food products rather than with beef carcass and cuts which make up the vast majority of Irish beef exports.

There are two aspects to the issue before the House. First is the trace contamination of beef products by equine and porcine DNA which must be investigated fully and any manufacturer who cannot guarantee non-contaminated ingredients for the food industry removed from the system. Second is the disclosure that one fifth of a burger product contained equine meat. The AIBP group which is at the centre of attention has focused in recent years on becoming the preferred partner of major retailers in Ireland and Britain. While I do not believe the company would put this valuable business in jeopardy by deliberately including equine meat in its product, I cannot accept that such a significant content of equine meat mistakenly ended up in a product labelled as beef. It was either a deliberate act or an instance of gross incompetence at some point in the supply chain. Investigations must not only take place internationally to source the contamination and to discover how it happened, but someone must pay dearly for undermining the integrity of the food chain.

The AIBP group handles over one quarter of the total beef kill in Ireland and just under a quarter in Britain. It seems bizarre that the largest single processor in Ireland or the UK would import beef from continental Europe to a country which has 900% self-sufficiency and is the fourth-largest exporter of beef in the world. Consumers and the thousands of families nationally who rely on our beef industry need honest and clear answers quickly. It is what they deserve.

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