Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

What is concerning is the report states there is no evidence that Silvercrest and Rangeland Meats knowingly purchased or used horsemeat in the production of beef products. Neither is there any evidence that they did not, however. One could argue it is quite incredible that they would not know these facts.

I met a well-known celebrity chef on the street in Dún Laoghaire recently who told me that at the base of this scandal was a product call rind emulsion. This consists of animal carcasses, mainly horses and pigs, which are boiled down to produce an emulsion which, in turn, is used by food processors to bulk up meat products to make more money and to fool the pubic as to the quality and standard of the meat. According to the chef this is widespread.

Are these bulking agents produced in Ireland and put on beef products labelled as Irish? If that is not the case and they were sourced from outside, what were Irish beef producers doing, in a country that produces more beef than any other country in the northern hemisphere, buying in dodgy beef products from abroad? Punitive action needs to be taken against the firms in question. We need a regulatory regime that ensures we know precisely the origins of all ingredients in food products and what they are. The issue of horse passports also needs to be addressed.

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