Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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78. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the actions he has taken on foot of the horsemeat crisis to ensure that the issues raised at the time are dealt with; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39542/13]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I published a detailed report on the "Equine DNA and Mislabelling of Processed Beef Investigation" on 14th March 2013, which provides extensive details on the investigation and the actions taken by my Department. Operations in a total of four plants were suspended (in some cases on a voluntary basis) for varying periods arising from the investigation. My Department is actively considering the possibility of instituting legal proceedings where appropriate, as indicated in the report. It is important to note in that context 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. Information in relation to activities by traders and other intermediaries in the supply chain outside of the jurisdiction has been passed to Europol and other Member States to facilitate continuing investigations in other countries.

Other actions taken in relation to this issue at both national and EU level include a programme of DNA testing of beef products and testing of horse meat for the presence of phenylbutazone. Meat traders/agents will be required to register as food business operators. Controls relating to horse identification are being strengthened and my Department has taken responsibility for the supervision of all horse abattoirs in Ireland. My Department has also issued guidelines to industry on legal requirements relating to packaging, commercial documents and Department access to information about customers and suppliers. Enhanced controls in these areas are designed to facilitate improved traceability and safeguard against substitution of meat. Compliance with the legislation underpinning these measures is a condition of approval for meat processing establishments.

It was because of the vigilance of Ireland's testing and control regime that this pan European problem was exposed. Exposure of this malpractice will result in improved consumer protection across the EU. In that regard, the EU Commission is pursuing an action plan over the remainder of 2013 and into 2014 which includes specific actions and measures on the following basic elements: fighting food fraud, testing programmes, horse passports, official controls and origin labelling. It is important that controls in this area are strengthened on a pan European basis, not just at national level, and some of the measures envisaged will require legislative change at EU level.