John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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Question 361: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the responsibilities of his Department and of local authorities in the licensing and supervision of abattoirs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16509/10]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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The European Communities (Food and Feed Hygiene) Regulations 2009 (S.I. No. 432 of 2009), which give further effect in Ireland to the EU food hygiene regulations ("the Hygiene Package"), provide for the approval and supervision of meat processing establishments including slaughtering establishments. My Department currently supervises 51 slaughter plants and 220 such plants are supervised by local authorities.

The regulations set out demarcation limits for supervision in terms of volume of throughput. Where the volume of throughput is greater than specified amounts, an application for approval for a new slaughter plant should be made to my Department, where it is lower the application should be directed to the relevant local authority. On receipt of an application and the requisite information, the appropriate competent authority will arrange for and carry out an approval inspection to determine whether the establishment meets all of the requirements of the regulations. Areas covered include the establishment's food safety management system, structures, staff training and provision for welfare of animals. Once approval is granted by my Department or by a local authority, slaughtering may take place under veterinary supervision.

Competent authorities are also required by the European regulations to carry out audits and inspections of slaughterhouses, and these are done by an official veterinarian. Regulation (EC) 854/2004 requires that these include audits of good hygiene practices and hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) -based procedures. The competent authority must verify the food business operator's systems, which includes verification of records; taking samples for laboratory analysis where appropriate; and documenting the findings of an audit.

The nature and intensity of auditing in respect of individual establishments depends upon the assessed risk and to this end, the competent authority must regularly assess factors including public and, where appropriate, animal health risks; animal welfare aspects; the type and throughput of the processes carried out; and the food business operator's past record as regards compliance with food law.