Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to the publication by his Department of the recent report on the horse meat scandal, if he will outline the sanctions he intends pursuing against companies and individuals criticized in the report. [16297/13]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The report on the ‘Equine DNA and Mislabelling of Processed Beef Investigation’, which I published on 14 March, includes details of the companies that came to my Department’s attention during this investigation and the actions taken by the Department. Operations in a total of four plants were suspended in some cases on a voluntary basis for varying periods arising from the investigation.

As indicated in the report, my Department is considering the possibility of instituting legal proceedings where appropriate. It should also be noted that while some of the failures referred to in the report risked reputational damage to the Irish food sector they did not breach EU or national law. The report also points to the necessity to review certain aspects of EU labelling regulations which I will pursue.