The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) said that it has not yet received any applications to date from other processors to slaughter horses.
Last month, operations at Ireland’s only horse abattoir, Shannonside Foods were suspended by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue.
It followed an RTÉ Investigates programme showing serious animal welfare abuses and cruelty in the treatment of horses that had been sent for slaughter at the facility in Straffan, Co. Kildare.
The department said that it is continuing to investigate the events depicted on the programme footage, in conjunction with An Garda Síochána.
“The department therefore is not in a position to comment in detail on the matter at this time other than to confirm that the licensed slaughterhouse on which the majority of the filming took place remains suspended,” a DAFM spokesperson told Agriland.
Although there have been a number of informal enquiries to date, no other processors have officially sought approval from the department to slaughter horses.
“It remains the case that there is currently no horse slaughter plant operating in Ireland,” the spokesperson added.
DAFM
The RTÉ investigation also exposed evidence of systemic flaws in the traceability of horses and how this was threatening the human food chain across Europe.
Minister McConalogue has appointed Professor Patrick Wall, a former chief executive of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI), to undertake a “comprehensive review of the system of identification, registration and traceability of equines in Ireland”.
“The review will focus on enhancing the integrity and security of these systems as well as the approval process in respect of food business operators,” the department said.
Wall, who is also a former chair of Horse Sport Ireland (HSI), is currently “gathering information in relation to the operation and legislative basis of the traceability systems and end of life solutions for horses both in Ireland and other member states”.
“The review is a high priority for the department and it is providing Professor Wall with all assistance necessary to ensure it is completed in a thorough and timely manner,” the DAFM spokesperson said.
Horse traceability
The department said that co-operation is ongoing between Ireland and the EU Commission and Europol on the issue of horse traceability.
The FSAI issued a food fraud notification through the EU Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) system to French authorities advising of the suspicion of fraud associated with product originating from the Shannonside Foods slaughterhouse.
Last week, DAFM representatives joined officials and police authorities from other EU member states at a Europol co-ordination meeting.
The gathering was requested by the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (GNBCI) to deal with criminal justice aspects of horse traceability with a transnational dimension.
The EU Commission has also engaged with representatives from the meat sector to encourage them to enhance their vigilance and to strengthen their controls in relation to horses presented for slaughter.
It asked processors to ensure that meat and meat products derived from horses fully comply with the animal and public health requirements set out in EU legislation.
The EU Commission are also calling on all competent authorities to increase their vigilance and to take appropriate steps in the risk-based performance and planning of official controls on operators in the equine sector.