Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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84. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the controls he has put in place to monitor carcass trimming in meat plants; if this work is being monitored by agricultural officers in real time, particularly as it is done prior to the weighing of carcasses on which farmers are paid; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35065/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Officials of my Department carry out unannounced inspections at beef slaughtering plants to ensure that Carcase Dressing (Trim) is carried out in accordance with EU Regulations.  To date in 2015, over 38,500 carcasses were inspected during 350 inspections. The number of carcasses inspected is up almost 5% on this time last year when the number of carcasses inspected was almost 15% higher than 2013 inspection figures and significantly exceeds the legal requirement for the minimum number of inspections set down in EU legislation. Un-announced inspections are carried out by authorised officers according to an inspection schedule in an Annual Control Plan, as a follow up where infringements may have been noted during a previous inspection visit or where a complaint to the Department warrants an immediate inspection.

During the course of such an inspection the following duties are performed by the authorised officer:

- Examination and evaluation of classification performance

- Evaluation of standard of dressing (trim) during the production process in real time when possible and on cold carcasses

- Examination of records concerning use of check weights

- Comparison of hot and cold weights

- Scrutiny of labelling particulars

- Examination of relevant records or processes, as appropriate

An inspection report form is furnished to factory management on completion of each inspection and, where appropriate, factory management is required to address any deficiencies noted.

All inspecting officers are provided with ongoing training to ensure compliance with the Carcase Dressing (Trim) specification in accordance with the legislation.

In January 2015, Industry was circulated with guidelines on inter aliacarcase dressing specifications under the current legislation.  In addition, during the Spring of 2015, the Department engaged in a series of regional meetings with factory management where the obligations imposed by current legislation regarding carcase presentation (trim) were re-iterated. The Department also distributed a booklet to industry outlining acceptable and unacceptable levels of trim for reference by factory operatives.