Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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506. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he has conducted an evaluation of the practices of halal and kosher butchery in terms of animal welfare; if not, his plans to do so. [30967/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Slaughter of animals for meat for human consumption is subject to compliance with relevant EU regulations, which are designed to ensure inter alia that food is safe, to protect human health and to safeguard animal welfare at time of slaughter. Ritual slaughter is carried out under the supervision of my Department. Food business operators who wish to carry out slaughter without pre-stunning must be approved to do so by my Department and must meet detailed procedural requirements laid down by the Department.

In addition, slaughterhouse operatives must be certified by my Department as being competent under a number of headings which includes, where appropriate, having reached the required standard in relation to s laughtering in accordance with Article 4(4) of Regulation (EC) 1099/2009 (i.e. ritual slaughter).