Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Before I reply to the question, I thank colleagues for taking a very responsible approach to a very sensitive issue last week. We were anxious to get very detailed results, which we did. This has provided a great deal of reassurance to the beef industry and farming and, most important, to people who buy Irish beef. They can be sure this is an industry that is properly regulated, safe and which has dealt with an outlier or single and individual case of BSE in a very transparent and competent manner.

Final test results have confirmed the recent suspect case of BSE to be an isolated case of classical BSE in a single animal. In line with normal protocols, my Department identified all animals potentially exposed to the BSE agent that caused this incident, those born and reared on the birth farm one year either side of the birth date of the positive animal and, indeed, her progeny. These have been slaughtered, excluded from the food and feed chains and tested. The epidemiological investigation has confirmed the following. All 63 cohort animals and four progeny slaughtered and disposed of have tested negative for BSE. The confirmed case is an isolated case in a single animal. Both the dam and grand dam of the infected animal tested negative for BSE at slaughter and, therefore, vertical transmission is not considered to be a factor in this case. While the grand dam of the positive animal was imported, this is not of any significance in epidemiological terms. No concerns arise regarding the integrity of the commercial feed supply chain or the effectiveness of the feed control systems.

We looked at thousands of test results from the years when this animal was growing up and not a single one tested positive for meat and bonemeal, which was connected in the past to BSE. We have had a meat and bonemeal ban in animal feed since 2001. All of the indications, surveys and test results show the ban has been rigorously enforced and adhered to by the feed industry in Ireland. Last year there were ten isolated one-off single animal cases of BSE throughout the European Union. Unfortunately we have had one this year, but we have dealt with it in a very comprehensive way. We have shown the systems in Ireland deal with these isolated incidences if and when they happen. The industry itself continues to deal in a very comprehensive way with the historic problem of BSE.

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