Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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969. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the current legal requirements and guidelines concerning the labelling of meat products certified as Halal; to detail his Department’s role in ensuring clear and accurate labelling; and to clarify whether further transparency measures are being considered to assist consumers. [48850/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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My Department’s role is to verify that meat complies with all labelling regulations.

There is no current legal requirement to label meat as Halal even if it has been certified as such.

Food businesses may only apply a Halal label to meat that has been produced in a Halal-certified slaughter plant and which has been certified as Halal by a Halal Certifying Body.

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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970. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to provide a current list of slaughterhouses holding Halal certification; to describe the certification and oversight process, including which bodies are involved for example, DHCE or other accredited agencies; and to specify the safeguards that exist to maintain public trust in this certification system. [48851/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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My Department does not retain a list of slaughterhouses holding Halal certification.

In addition, my Department is not involved in the Halal certification process which is a commercial arrangement between food businesses and Halal Certification Organisations.

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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971. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine whether the EU-mandated meat establishment code system, for example, "IE 363"and "IE 367", could be reviewed for greater clarity, specifically, to distinguish clearly between codes as origin indicators and any religious certification; and to assess whether additional labelling for example, official Halal logos or QR verification links should be considered. [48852/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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The mandatory requirement for approval numbers to be given to establishments approved under eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:02004R0853-20241109 does not include provision for the addition of any other commercial indicators to these numbers. There is no current regulatory requirement to mandate additional labelling to indicate religious certification.

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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972. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine whether his Department has conducted any recent audits related to the traceability and segregation of Halal-certified meat; if he will publish any key findings that inform safe and accurate labelling; and the way these practices intersect with the responsibilities of his Department, particularly in safeguarding consumer information. [48853/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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My Department has not conducted any recent audits on the traceability or segregation of Halal-certified meat. The Food Safety Authority of Ireland conducted a Targeted Audit of Halal Claims on Meat and Poultry in 2021.

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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973. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine whether any specific marine-sourced food products, such as fish, carry Halal certification or processing designations; if so, how these are labelled; whether guidelines differ from those applied to meat; and whether his Department intends to introduce uniform labelling standards for all Halal-certified food products across sectors. [48854/25]

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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The Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) is an independent statutory body which has responsibility for seafood safety controls and the enforcement of seafood safety law. As the competent authority for the export certification of Irish seafood, the SFPA provides assurance of compliance with EU food hygiene legislation and any other certification required for export to non-EU countries.

The Department of Health have advised that requirements for labelling and food information are harmonised at EU level and set out Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers. That Department does not currently have any plans to introduce national measures on the labelling of halal certified food products.

Labelling containing information beyond what is required by Regulation is a matter for each Food Business Operator.