Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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Question 132: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food the steps she is taking to ensure smuggling of cattle in the Border counties is eradicated in view of the recent discovery of calves wandering on a road near Ballybofey on 12 October 2005; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33761/05]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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A number of measures are in place to deter illegal cross-Border traffic in cattle. In Ireland, cattle do not have any legitimacy unless they are tagged with official tags, registered on the central CMMS database and accompanied by official cattle identification documents — cattle passports. The processes of tag supply, passport issue and registration on the central database are subject to a series of validation checks designed to verify the origin, identity and status of each animal.

The main elements are as follows. Official tags contain security features to prevent tampering. Tags are issued to active herd owners only and the number of tags supplied to each keeper is controlled. A proof of delivery system is in place for tag issue to ensure that tags are not delivered to a person other than the registered keeper and are signed for on receipt. Each tag contains a check digit which is used for validation purposes. Tags are county and herd and animal specific. In so far as replacement tags are concerned, no replacement tag may be issued unless the animal has been recorded alive on the central database in the applicant herd.

A number of checks are also conducted on all applications for registration. Any discrepancies uncovered are followed up and must be resolved before the registration is accepted and a passport issued. Calf birth registrations are not accepted onto CMMS unless the herd number of the applicant is valid, has an active status and has been supplied with a herd identifier. In addition, registrations are not accepted unless the tag number applied on is valid, the dam is alive in the herd of birth at the time of birth, is over 18 months of age, has not had a calf in the previous 300 days and has matching breed details. Additional checks are carried out in respect of high twinning levels and late registrations.

In addition, there are systematic location and status checks of the tag numbers of animals presented at slaughter plants and live export points and in respect of private sales. They are designed to prevent the acceptance of any animal unless the tag number has a live status on the database and unless its current location on the database corresponds to the holding number of the applicant for slaughter/export/clearance to move from farm to farm.

These validations are augmented by a system of removal from the database of animals that disappear in suspicious circumstances to the extent that animals marked as "disappeared" no longer have a status according to the database and would also fail status and location checks already mentioned. The above mentioned validations have been introduced and strengthened on an incremental basis over the years since the initial development of the CMMS database.

In the case referred to in the question, six unidentified young male calves were found in a state of distress close to the Border on the date in question. In line with normal practice, these animals were destroyed because the identification and origin details could not be confirmed.