Cavan County Council has suspended the licence of a slaughterhouse in the county following a recent inspection.
The joint inspection was carried out on the premises of Tavan Meats, with an address at Mullagh, in the southwest of the county, by Cavan County Council and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
The county council suspended the licence to operate as a slaughterhouse on the grounds of food safety and animal welfare regulations, according to the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI).
It is understood that the inspection was carried out earlier this week.
The FSAI said that it is working closely with the county council and the department on the issue.
Cavan County Council confirmed to Agriland that an enforcement notice was issued in relation to a food premises in the county, but could not comment further due to the “ongoing statutory process”.
It is understood that the slaughterhouse is working on resolving the issues identified in the inspection.
Enforcement orders
The FSAI said earlier this month that a total of 92 food businesses were served with legal orders for breaches of food safety law in 2023.
The number of enforcement orders served on food businesses last year was 19% higher than in 2022, the annual figures show.
Last year, 76 closure orders, three improvement orders, and 13 prohibition orders were served on food businesses. A total of 6 prosecutions were also taken, the FSAI said.
Enforcement actions were led by the Health Service Executive (HSE), local authority veterinary inspectors, the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority, and the FSAI.
Separately this week, the FSAI recalled a batch of SuperValu Chicken and Ham Pie has been recalled due to a packaging error.
According to the FSAI, the product contains soya, which is not declared on the label.
The presence of soya may make the batch unsafe for consumers who are allergic to or intolerant to it, the authority said.