Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As Minister, I take my responsibility very seriously, as the Department does, with regard to working with the HSE and with other agencies in terms of ensuring that the best practices are in place at meat factories and that serial testing takes place as quickly as possible. One of the first actions I took following my appointment as Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine was to seek an immediate meeting with Meat Industry Ireland to ensure that co-ordination between the HSE, the Department and the meat industry was clear and that there was a clear timeline in relation to testing taking place. This is a matter of which I have kept abreast of every day since. I was interviewed on the Claire Byrne show on Wednesday morning last and gave the most up-to-date information I had at that point. The Department had been informed the night before by the HSE that testing had been temporarily postponed. I had not had a chance to be briefed that morning before the radio interview that the HSE had taken that decision. However, I have kept abreast of how that is progressing every day. I am doing everything possible within my Department to work with them to ensure that continues. The objective is to ensure, resources allowing, that serial testing will continue, that the first series will be finalised and that testing will continue to roll out on a fortnightly basis after that.

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