Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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Question 391: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food if there have been breaches of the regulations by the lamb processing factories or importers, in respect of live lamb imports from Northern Ireland or other sources over the past 24 months; and if so, if she will provide details of same. [27100/04]

Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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Question 392: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food the details of regulations and requirements on lamb slaughter factories in respect of lamb exports from Northern Ireland and other sources, particularly in relation to the exact times during which imported lambs may be admitted to a lamb processing plant and her Department personnel which must be present at these times; the responsibilities of these personnel; the documentation which must accompany lamb imports; the nature of the requirements placed on lamb processors and hauliers and those in respect of sheep identification and documentation. [27101/04]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 391 and 392 together.

The trade in slaughter sheep between Northern Ireland and the South is subject to the provisions of a general authorisation which provides, inter alia, that sheep must be identified and certified by the competent veterinary authority in Northern Ireland, according to their health status. There are also administrative requirements that must be complied with, for example, the importer must be registered with my Department as a registered importer and an advance notification must be received at least 24 hours in advance of the import.

Plant management are required to notify the veterinary office by 24 hours advance notification of all consignments of imported sheep which have been booked in for slaughter and they must notify the veterinary office when consignments of imported sheep arrive at the plant. Management at the plant are required to check that imported sheep comply with the requirements of the general authorisation, in particular that the animals are correctly tagged and accompanied by the proper veterinary certification. Any non-compliance must be reported to veterinary office staff. A separate record must be kept by plant management of all sheep imported from Northern Ireland to include: time of entry; registration number of the vehicle; name of the person who delivers the consignment; place from which the animals were collected; the nature of the consignment; name, address and flock number of flock owner or supplier; and then umber of sheep presented for slaughter.

While primary responsibility for recording details of consignments lies with plant management, my Department's veterinary office staff are required to carry out random checks on consignments of imported sheep to ascertain whether the provisions of the general authorisation have been complied with, including checks on the accompanying documentation and physical checks of correlation between tag numbers and details recorded on veterinary certificates.

During the foot and mouth disease emergency of 2001, legislation was introduced to provide for the resumption of trade in sheep from Northern Ireland subject to certain conditions. One of these conditions stipulated that sheep from Northern Ireland intended for slaughter could arrive at a meat plant only between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on the day of slaughter. This legislation has since been revoked. There have been no prosecutions initiated by my Department in respect of illegal imports of sheep in the past 24 months.

Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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Question 393: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food if she will provide the statistics on the number of imported lambs from Northern Ireland and other sources being slaughtered at plants here on a weekly basis during 2004 and 2003. [27102/04]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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Some 249,000 lambs from Northern Ireland were slaughtered in Ireland in 2003, while 215,000 have been slaughtered so far this year. A weekly breakdown is given in the following table.