There has been significant escalation in the scale of Europe-wide investigations into issues revealed in a recent RTÉ documentary into food fraud in the horse meat sector, an Oireachtas Committee has been told.
On Wednesday morning the European Commission organised a meeting of member states to discuss the fallout the recent of RTÉ Investigates: 'Horses, Making a Killing.' The programme included evidence that horses were being given new identities to enter the food chain.
This evening the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture was informed that Europol had joined the European meeting and it will be now coordinating international elements of the investigation.
The Department of Agriculture’s Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer, Michael Sheahan, said the problems identified in the RTÉ Investigates documentary had exposed failings across the EU.
"Apart from the national issues that came up there is an international dimension to this as well… at a meeting that was held today organised by the European Commission, that we attended, it was also attended by law enforcement agencies.
"Europol (which attended the meeting) are taking a significant role in coordinating internationally this investigation and the ramifications of it. They sought, and we confirmed, that we will be assisting them in every way we can," Mr Sheahan said.
He said in Ireland the Department was currently leading the domestic investigation however discussions were ongoing about transferring elements of this, particularly those with an international dimension, to the Organised and Serious Crime division at An Garda Síochána.
The Oireachtas Agriculture Committee hearing was called to discuss issued raised in the documentary and included representatives from Horse Racing Ireland and Horse Sport Ireland.
Separately Dr Avril Hobson, the Department’s Senior Superintending Veterinary Inspector responsible for Public Health confirmed to the Oireachtas Committee that the Food Safety Authority of Ireland had sent information to French authorities regarding potential food fraud among horses slaughtered at Shannonside Foods Ltd in Straffan.
But she said in addition to the domestic matters several other member states had identified issues arising from the RTÉ Investigates research into horses entering the food chain that were not fit for human consumption.
She confirmed these had already resulted in bilateral food safety alerts being issued in recent days.
She said these were not connected to food processed at Ireland’s only equine abattoir but related to similar potential issues connected to many more slaughtering plants on the continent.
"So other member states on the basis of the [RTÉ Investigates programme] would appear have now looked internally, because you know we have one slaughter plant that is now closed and has stopped slaughtering horses, other member states have numbers of slaughter plants."
She said these inquiries have resulted in alerts being issued both by the European Commission and between individual member states.
"So some of (the alerts) have issued from the Commission. There are a couple of member states…and these would have all come out since the RTÉ Investigates (programme). We wouldn’t necessarily be privy to all of them necessarily if they are between (two countries)… but we are aware of a number of other fraud alerts," she said.
On Tuesday Dutch authorities issued a "serious" warning through the European Commission’s Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) system. This warned customers in Belgium and France that there was potentially "horsemeat in circulation whose identity is incorrect".
Separately, Mr Sheahan told the Committee that a meeting has been organised between the Department and their compatriots in Northern Ireland next Monday. This will be to discuss cross-border issues which were identified in the identification of horses.
