Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 378: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food if she has satisfied herself that the use of meat and bonemeal in animal feedstuffs has been discontinued entirely; if there have been breaches of this regulation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14589/05]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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The first case of BSE in Ireland was diagnosed in 1989. In 1990 EU legislation was introduced which banned the feeding of meat and bonemeal to ruminant animals. These measures were significantly strengthened in the intervening years in the light of new information relating to the disease and the possible implications for human health. In 2001 all proteins derived from mammals was prohibited from being fed to all farmed animals.

To ensure that this total ban was enforced effectively, my Department increased its level of sampling for processed animal proteins from 810 samples in 2000 to almost 3,500 in 2003, with that level maintained for 2004. This includes the sampling of all imported bulk consignments of feed materials along with extensive sampling of compound feeding stuffs and on-farm sampling. During 2003 and 2004, bone fragments have been detected in only four consignments out of a total of 7,000 samples. It is believed that these were as a result of cross-contamination rather than deliberate inclusion.

While I cannot guarantee that traces of bone will not be detected in animal feed in the future, I am satisfied that the controls operated by my Department are adequate. The procedures on such controls are kept under constant review by my Department.