John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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1996. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if a comprehensive account will be provided of the actions taken to date by his Department to resolve all of the issues associated with the DNA tests of a herd in the name of a person (details supplied); the outstanding matters including DNA tests that have to be dealt with; the timeline for the completion of this work; if the suspension of the herd will be lifted as a matter of urgency; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15059/21]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Discrepancies have been identified in the herd of the person named in relation to bovine animal identification and registration over the last number of years.  As a result of these findings, it was necessary to suspend the trading status of the herd. Correct identification and registration of bovine animals is a legal requirement under EU and Irish law.

My Department officials have continued to engage with the herd keeper over the last number of years to try to resolve the situation.  DNA testing has now been completed on the relevant animals and all results of DNA tests have been received.  My Department officials have given a significant amount of time to addressing the problem of unregistered cattle in this herd.  The majority of animals have now been registered, however some correlations remain outstanding.

A letter issued to the Herdkeeper recently detailing the outstanding discrepancies and seeking correlation by the Herdkeeper to resolve the outstanding queries.  Once this information has been received from the Herdkeeper, the remaining animals can be registered and the suspension lifted on the herd.