Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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259. To ask the Minister for Health further to comments of 15 May 2013 by the British Member of Parliament, Anne McIntosh which criticized the Food Safety Authority of Ireland for failing to provide information to assist the probe into the horsemeat scandal in Britain, if he will outline the requests made to the FSAI by the British parliamentary probe and outline the responses provided. [24704/13]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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The fact that horsemeat was being substituted for beef in processed beef products came to light as a result of the work of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) following a survey it began in November 2012, the results of which were published in January 2013.  This is a Europe wide problem involving many countries including the UK where the deceit had persisted unknown and undetected for some time. The work of Ireland's food control authorities has resulted in major changes in practice within the food processing industry and in the retail sector. It will also result in changes in EU food law. All of these changes are designed to ensure that there will be no recurrence of this deception and that consumer protection measures are strengthened.  

The Environment Food and Rural Affairs Committee (EFRA) of the UK House of Commons is chaired by Anne McIntosh MP. Following the work of FSAI, the Committee began to inquire into food "contamination", that is the undeclared presence of horsemeat in beef products.  The FSAI was invited to and did attend a meeting of the Committee on 23rd April 2013 to assist with its inquiries. The Committee appears to have formed a theory that Ireland is mainly responsible for the adulteration of beef products with horsemeat and that the FSAI conducted its survey of beef products based on a "tip off". Both of these suppositions are incorrect.  

The FSAI survey of beef products was a routine activity. It was not based on a "tip off" or so called "intelligence". It was based on common sense and an understanding of the food chain which FSAI is required to police.  A brief examination of the notifications from the EU's Rapid Alert for Food and Feed (RASFF) on adulteration of meat products shows that at least 23 countries were the source of adulterated products and the raw materials used came from at least 14 of those countries.

The EFRA Committee complained that the FSAI only informed the FSA UK about the results of its survey on 14th January 2013, the day before the FSAI issued its first press release on the subject. It is important to note that the FSAI was careful to ensure that its survey results were reliable and scientifically sound.  Given the likely implications for trade and consumer confidence, FSAI was also careful not to be the source or cause of unfounded rumours about the authenticity of processed beef products.  For these reasons, the FSAI was only in a position to inform the food business operators and my Department after it validated confirmatory tests which were received late on Friday 11th January. My Department advised me of the situation on Monday 14th January - the same day the Food Standards Agency (FSA) UK was informed.  

The FSAI and the Food Standards Agency Northern Ireland (FSA NI) meet regularly and co-operate frequently on many levels, particularly in relation to food incidents. During 2012 the FSAI and the FSA UK also had a number of meetings and discussions in relation to the slaughter of horses destined for the food chain. On 23rd November 2012 at a scheduled meeting between the senior management teams of the FSAI  and the FSA NI , FSAI informed FSA NI of the survey work  which was in progress, and of the development of  test methodology for horse DNA.  FSAI also informed FSA UK's chief scientist on 10th January that authenticity checks on beef products were under way.  

At all times the FSAI has communicated all relevant information on the outcome of the investigation to the food safety regulatory agencies across Europe (including the UK) and to Europol, the European policing agency. The FSAI does not accept the factually inaccurate and unfounded allegations being made by Anne McIntosh MP. Criminal investigations are under way across Europe by appropriate authorities and prosecutions may follow. The FSAI  and the FSA UK have been collaborating with each other on this issue. Catherine Brown, CEO, FSA UK said at the EFRA Committee hearing on 14th May that there was no outstanding information from the FSAI. However, a number of enquiries to the UK authorities are still outstanding in relation to the role of a number of UK based companies which were significant suppliers of beef to processing companies in Ireland.

It is worth noting when the FSAI initiated the testing of the authenticity of the beef products, neither the FSA UK nor any other food control body including private inspection bodies were carrying out such checks on beef products for the presence of horsemeat. To conclude I would again emphasise that the FSAI considers there is no risk to consumer health associated with the identification of horse meat in certain beef burger products. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has taken primary responsibility as the key issues concern labelling, traceability and potential fraud of meat products. More than 23 EU countries are now involved and investigations by the authorities are ongoing across Europe.