Susan O'Keeffe (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Tom Hayes, and apologise for the delay which occurred. Like him, I am interested in ensuring the continued integrity of the Irish beef industry. I am also interested in providing assurance to farmers that their efforts and hard work are being rewarded. It is in this light that I raise the matter before the House.

Last year, representatives from the Polish veterinary authorities visited Ireland at the invitation of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. I understand they were invited but I do not know if that was the case and I stand open to correction by the Minister of State. In any event, they came as a result of the horsemeat scandal and on foot of allegations that a certain amount of product had been sourced in Poland. They took that matter very seriously and travelled here to investigate. They visited Silvercrest Foods and requested that various pallets of meat be unloaded in order that they could examine them. They took some photographs of the meat in question - I am sure the Minister of State is familiar with them - and included them in their report, which was recently made public. The photographs to which I refer are extremely disturbing. They suggested that some of the meat was old, rotten, dry and either green or brown in colour. Some of the meat was also red, so it appeared to the representatives from Poland that horsemeat had been mixed with the meat. This was not done in order to replace beef, which was what we first understood to have happened, but perhaps to cover up the use of what was very poor-quality meat in the first instance. Within the industry this meat is deemed to be category 3 animal by-product. In other words, it is substandard meat.

The veterinary inspectors from Poland observed what I have just outlined between 12 and 15 February 2013. I presume they met and were accompanied by officials from the Department during their visit. Again, I would welcome clarification from the Minister of State on this matter. The issue I have raised here this evening relates to the report compiled by the departmental officials who accompanied the Polish veterinary inspectors. I presume those officials would also have been alarmed by what they saw. It has been reported that the Polish veterinary inspectors were given an assurance by the officials who were present that the pallet of meat that was opened for inspection had not been opened previously. In other words, it was disassembled at the behest of our Polish visitors. The pallet had not been defrosted previously and no one knew what it contained until the packaging was removed. The Polish veterinary inspectors are very concerned with regard to what is shown in the photographs they took.

I do not know what happened which allowed the meat in the relevant freezer lorry to deteriorate, as is suggested by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. The Department's version of events is that the meat deteriorated because it had been loaded onto and taken back out of the truck several times, tampered with, drilled into, etc. I am not a specialist in how food is frozen, rather I am a food scientist. However, the specialists have said that if the temperature in the truck was incorrect, all of the meat would have been putrid. They also stated that it ought to have been properly kept in the truck. I am sure there are procedures for detaining meat that is under question. Perhaps the Minister of State knows what are the relevant regulations in this regard. If so, perhaps he might share them with me.

A number of matters of concern arise in respect of this matter. For example, there were 22 pallets in the truck to begin with but there were only eight when the representatives from the Polish authorities carried out their inspection. Where did the other pallets go? We have been given an assurance to the effect that meat from the truck did not enter the food chain but I am struggling with that. I am extremely concerned that the meat did enter the food chain, particularly as meat from the truck had never been examined until the Polish veterinary inspectors made their visit. In their report, the inspectors state that the labels which were claimed to be Polish had either been reused, photocopied or faked. As far as I understand it, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has indicated that this is the Polish authorities' problem. I would have thought it is our problem. If labels were faked in our jurisdiction, then perhaps they are our responsibility.

People have expressed their concerns about this matter to me. They want to know if it could happen again and what are the implications for the industry. In the interests of ensuring the integrity of the industry, I would welcome it if the Minister of State could clarify the position.