The length of time taken for the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to name the meat processors in breach of regulations on excessive beef carcass trimming has been described as “unacceptable”.
Roscommon/Galway Independent TD Denis Naughten has said: “It is totally unacceptable that it took 11 months for the department to name Kavanagh Meats of Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford, for breach of the regulations of excessive beef carcass trimming.
Continuing, he said: “I have been questioning the Minister for Agriculture, Michael Creed, in Dáil Eireann to release the names of meat plants in breach of the beef trimming rules since last January.
While incidents of breaches of the beef trimming rules have evaporated after the spotlight was placed on the industry, it clearly shows that naming plants in breach of the rules does help to improve compliance with the standards.
Continuing, the Connacht TD stressed: “Having to wait 11 months – and six Dáil questions later – just to get a reference to a website is not good enough.
“Those factories in breach of the rules need to be named immediately and assurance provided to the farmer that they will be fully compensated.
“It must be remembered that breaching these rules is directly taking money out of the pockets of hard-pressed beef farmers which is on top of the current depressed prices,” Naughten concluded.