There has been "a lot of soul-searching" in the Department of Agriculture since last week's RTE Investigates programme which exposed serious equine welfare issues at Ireland's only licensed horse abattoir.

The Shannonside Foods Ltd plant in Straffan, Co Kildare, which was heavily featured in the RTE report, has since been shut down by the Department and on Thursday a senior official from the Department appeared before the Public Accounts Committee to answer questions on the matter.

Michael Sheahan, the Department's deputy chief veterinary officer, said the "horrific" footage in the programme "was one of the most sickening things I've ever seen" and he was repeatedly asked how the Department's veterinary representatives at the facility had failed to suspect or find any wrongdoing on their weekly visits to the plant over many years.

Sheahan said that Department officials have "done a lot of soul-searching about should we have known what was happening in that shed next door?" He added: "Without the excellent work done by RTÉ, to be honest, we would not have known that this was happening."

Asked what would now happen to horses due to be slaughtered, Sheahan said he was aware that the closure of the abattoir would lead to horses being sent abroad for slaughter. He said he was unsure if the Department will be able to "pull a rabbit out of a hat" to arrange for another Irish abattoir to fill the void.

He acknowledged that "a number of horses were moved" from the abattoir a day before the enforced closure and he understands that they have been moved to lands in Limerick "owned by the same individual".

Sheahan told the Committee that the Department had received five complaints relating to horse welfare on Shannonside Foods Ltd's property since 2018 and that each one of these was investigated but it was felt no action was required. The fact that a person involved in running the facility had a previous conviction for an equine welfare offence was also insufficient reason for the Department to step in, Sheahan said. It was the court's prerogative whether or not to ban people from working with animals and, in this case, the court had not done so, he explained.

Sheahan told TDs and senators on the Committee that his colleagues were also very concerned to see the apparent insertion of unregistered microchips in horses being prepared for slaughter.

"Just simply sticking a microchip in a horse - that won't allow you to beat the system," he told the Committee. "We're not sure yet how this individual horse beat the system. We have some theories," Sheahan said.

EU discussion

It also emerged that the European Commission will meet next week to discuss concerns over the tracebility of horses being moved across Europe.

Sheahan said that the Department had contacted the commission to discuss an EU-wide response to issues raised in the RTE programme.

They include "a loophole" in some countries where databases "don't talk to each other," he said.

The meeting, which he noted will take place on Wednesday, is being convened "to see what needs to be done to close that loophole," and follows the launch of investigations right across the bloc after the programme was aired.

IHRB finances

The Committee meeting was originally convened to discuss a financial matter relating to the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board's 2022 accounts.

On Thursday IHRB chief executive Darragh O'Loughlin confirmed to the Committee that the root of the problem was an inappropriate transfer of €350,000 from the Jockeys Emergency Fund (a charity) to the IHRB's own bank account in January 2022. The money was repaid three months later but O'Loughlin could not tell the Committee why the transfer was made until consultants Mazars had completed its report into the matter, which began almost a year ago. That report is expected to cost €80,000.

"We have tightened up on our financial controls," O'Loughlin told the Committee.

O'Loughlin refused to bow to sustained pressure to reveal the salary of the Chief Financial Officer - who has been on voluntary suspension with full pay for "just shy" of a year.

Curragh costs

Separately, Horse Racing Ireland boss Suzanne Eade told the Committee that she does not expect the Curragh Racecourse to make a profit for "a number of years" due to the high annual depreciation charge on the track's buildings.

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