PROFESSOR Patrick Wall, a former chairman of Horse Sport Ireland, has been contracted by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) to carry out a review of the Department’s oversight of the controversial abattoir at the centre of the recent RTÉ Investigates programme, and also to review apparent gaps in the identification and traceability systems used in the equine sector.

Aired on June 12th, the RTÉ report showed hidden camera footage of horses allegedly being treated with extreme cruelty prior to being slaughtered. The footage also suggested that horses had their identities changed using imported microchips and even paint, so that they matched existing passports and could be processed for the food chain.

On Thursday, the Department’s Secretary General Brendan Gleeson told the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that the Department had asked Professor Patrick Wall to conduct a “root and branch review” of the system of identification and traceability of equines, and how the Department regulates equine slaughter facilities.

Gleeson said: “We have contracted somebody, specifically Professor Paddy Wall, who is a veterinarian and a medical doctor and an expert in the equine sector and a food safety expert. We’ve contracted him now to do a specific review of the arrangements in relation to horses and for this incident, and we hope that he’ll come forward with recommendations very quickly, in a couple of months, I think.”

Adverse publicity

A former Chief Executive of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland and former chair of the European Food Safety Authority, Professor Wall said the programme brought adverse publicity and embarrassment to Ireland, who prides itself as a centre of excellence for food production.

Speaking to The Irish Field on Friday, he said: “This is mainly about food safety. And although the horse isn’t a food animal here, the horse industry in Ireland has brought a lot of grief on the food industry, and the government will not allow the horse industry wreck the food industry.”

The agenda is far-reaching, one item being an improved system for the traceability of horses.

“We have a kind of Rolls Royce traceability system for cattle. And while horses and cattle are very different, there are probably elements of the cattle system that might work for the horses, so they’re looking at that.

“Horse Sport Ireland is having problems with passport issuing. That’s not very satisfactory. From a food safety point of view, you need to have a record of what medicines the animals get, but if a foal doesn’t get its book until a year old, or eight months or 10 months old, there is no record of those medicines.

“There will be a little bit of pain to tighten this up for everybody,” said Professor Wall, adding that current legislation must be properly enforced and any new slaughter facility must have the highest animal welfare standards, with no loopholes for any laws to be broken.

Approval process

Mr Gleeson confirmed that currently, there is no approved equine slaughter plant in Ireland.

He said there have been a number of expressions of interest and the Department are considering them.

“It is open for people to apply, but currently, there is no approved equine slaughter premises in the country.”

He added there have been no horses slaughtered since the beginning of June, and said that no horses have been exported for slaughter either. “I believe there have not been any horses exported for the last six or seven weeks.”

Answering questions on the approval process of the plant at the centre of the controversy - Shannonside Foods Ltd - in 2015, Gleeson said he has reflected on this process because “there are obvious legitimate questions about the history of the owners of the plant.

“I have examined the file and it seems that, at the time of the application, the focus of the examination was on the suitability of the premises from a slaughter point of view, to include hygiene issues, physical infrastructure and the various quality control systems required.

“It was not evident to me from looking at the file that the suitability of the person, an individual, was part of the formal process of approval.”