Luke Flanagan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the opportunity to discuss this matter. I have not read the report, for obvious reasons. I will read it later. I have read quite a bit on this issue and a few people have contacted me about it. One impressive character, an expert in this area, contacted me. He is connected with horse breeding. In line with the saying, if you have a dog why bark yourself, I will read this person's suggestions which are excellent. I understand that the Minister has seen these too.

He says that at the present time there is no accounting for horses that leave the population through means other than factories that slaughter horses for the human food chain. Specifically, if an animal disposal agent is hired to euthanise and remove a horse, or simply remove a horse that has died or been euthanised by a veterinarian, the agent does not record vital identification variables such as the UELN and microchip number.

The failure to record the UELN and microchip number of each disposed horse is important but it has no direct implication for the human food chain. But the failure of disposal agents to require a passport to accompany the disposed horse is a critical failing in the system. In recent years there has been a trade in passports among dealers who buy horses for slaughter for human consumption. When a dead horse is disposed of the passport is left with the horse owner-keeper. The horse owner-keeper is supposed to return the passport to the issuing agency but most do not. While most horse owners or keepers are honest a minority do sell those passports to dealers for use with other horses. Horses that should not be in the human food chain can enter through this back door.

Changes in zootechnic law that require horse disposal agents to take a horse's passport, record the death of the horse in the proposed on-line information system, and return the passport to the issuing agency would enhance security of the human food chain. An unintended consequence of this policy proposal may be an increase in the incidence of unauthorised and inappropriate disposal of equine remains among individuals owning horses without passports. This issue should be explored during the policy development process.

He also makes several recommendations. He says we do not need a database but an on-line information system. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is in the process of launching an equine database. This man believes that the Department is rushing this task to respond to the horsemeat crisis and in doing so is missing an historic opportunity to institute an on-line information system that could provide enhanced security and in doing so protect public health. This man believes that the Department should create an equine database that can be accessed by studbook officials, veterinarians, Department veterinarians in the field, and horse owners or keepers with each constituency limited as to the type of data access they have and the kinds of data that may be entered or changed. Other individuals, not only in Ireland but also in the EU and throughout the world, should be able to access certain basic data on a read-only basis. The database should contain the fields or variables required by the Department to fulfil its obligations under EU and Irish law and to protect public health. The database should permit each approved studbook to create additional fields or variables to suit the individual studbook and its breeding and administrative requirements. When a foal is registered in the studbook all the data required by the Department must be entered and JPG files containing the marking chart and written descriptions of the horse marks must be uploaded into the database.

This element of the database is very important because it will allow the Department's veterinarians at slaughter facilities throughout the EU and at ports etc. to compare the UELN microchip number and the JPG scan of the horse's marking chart and written description of the marks to the actual horse in front of them to confirm the identity of the animal.

When a horse is prescribed a substance by a veterinarian that requires the animal to be removed from the food chain legislation must require the veterinarian not only to note the removal of the food from the foodchain in the horse's passport but also to enter within some specified period, for example, two hours, that fact in the on-line information system. Smartphone apps should be developed to facilitate quick and easy entry of the data into the database by veterinarians while they are in the field and away from their offices.

His second suggestion is that there be a centralised passport issuing agency. The requirement under legislation for an indivisible and secure equine passport would be better achieved if there were one passport issuing agency that is integrated into the proposed on-line information system. Tenders should be sought from independent organisations, without conflict of interest, that is, studbooks should not be allowed to compete for the contract to provide real time production of passports ordered by studbooks through the proposed on-line information system. When a studbook registers a foal or is asked to issue a passport to an older horse the studbook would enter the required data including the JPG files for making a marking chart and written description into the database and execute the function to issue a passport. The command would be sent to the new passport issuing agency which in real time would create a bound passport with the latest security features, the blank passports would be identical except the passport cover would be individualised for each studbook.

The benefits of this integrated and centralised approach to passport issuance include, (a) the new security features, for example, holograms, special paper etc. can be implemented rapidly as there would be no inventory of old and outdated passports that must be issued before the new passports are used; (b) the per unit cost of issuing passports would be lower than the cost incurred by any current studbook because of economies of scale; (c) the possibility of passports for older horses being issued without the passports being stamped "removed from food chain" would be eliminated because the information system could be hard-wired to require such an entry in the passport if the "31 December-6 months of age" requirement is not met, or if the passport is a replacement or a duplicate; (d) the real-time nature of the system means there is no reporting lag-time, especially important in the case of older horses being issued original, duplicate, or replacement passports; and (d) the Department's regulatory costs would be reduced.

His final recommendation is for enhanced identification and control of animals removed from the food chain. Legislation should be passed containing the following elements: (a) the Department must secure and sell to veterinarians a new type of microchip that contains a standard readable code such as "not for human consumption" that veterinarians will be required to insert in horses prescribed drugs that require them to be removed from the food chain; (b) the Department must secure and sell to veterinarians a freeze mark system with a symbol, for example NHC, that veterinarians will be required to apply to horses prescribed drugs that require them to be removed from the food chain; (c) before prescribing and-or administering and-or giving the substance to the horse owner-keeper to administer the veterinarian must search for the new chip and, if not present, insert the chip in a specified location and mark the location of the passport marking chart along with noting the required "removed from food chain" notice in the passport; (d) the Department must audit every veterinarian every year to confirm that the amount of substances, such as Bute, that they acquire reasonably corresponds to the number of horses they have removed from the food chain through passport stamps, the on-line information system, and new microchip implants and freeze marks less the amount verified by Department inspectors as still being in the veterinarian's inventory; (e) a first offence penalty of €1,000 to be levied on a veterinary surgeon who dispenses a substance that must result in a horse being removed from the food chain; (e) for repeat offenders a penalty of €10,000 and suspension of licence for three months per violation.

I understand the Minister has received this information and I will be interested to hear what he thinks of it.

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