Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not accept that either I or the much maligned beef forum has failed. In fairness to all the participants in the forum, the resolution to this issue has been progressed through that. The fact that we are having additional staff trained and put in situ to enhance the level of inspections and the supervision of the kill line to make sure that the existing very low level of non-compliance is further inspected so that every farmer gets a fair crack of the whip in terms of the supervision of their cattle and that there is no excessive trim has been delivered through engagement. I have had direct engagement with Meat Industry Ireland, MII, but also at the forum. That has been a signal achievement. It may have taken a little longer than we would have wished but we are in a situation where, from the start of 2019, we will have additional staff dealing with this issue. Approximately 1.8 million cattle are slaughtered and, of those, 21 excessive trims were detected in 2018 to date. That does not signal a huge failure-----

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