30th November, 2000
Dr. Henry: I share Senator Dardis's concerns about the BSE crisis and I am sure we all congratulate our Commissioner, Mr. David Byrne, on his handling of the matter. It is a serious crisis for the farming community but it is also a serious public health issue. The Commissioner is introducing a ban on the use of meat and bonemeal in all animal feed from 1 January 2001, which I have sought for many years. Will the Leader ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development to tell us how he proposes to introduce that ban in Ireland? It is vital to assure consumers that cattle are not being given contaminated feed but we have been unable to do that for the past five years. We could do that now if we had introduced a ban at the same time as we introduced the ban for cattle feed.
