Government rejects reports of illegal dumping

The Department of Agriculture today rejected claims by An Taisce that BSE-infected carcasses are continuing to be dumped at illegal sites in several counties.

In a statement, the Department said it takes serious issue with the "presentation and contents" of an article reporting the claims in the Irish Independentyesterday.

It said: "While the heading of the article attributes to An Taisce the claim that BSE-infected carcases are being dumped illegally, the basis for this serious claim turns out to be telephone calls made to An Taisce."

The article reported An Taisce as saying that it was "particularly alarmed" by the number of complaints it had been receiving on its new waste hotline about the existence of shallow burial sites.

The environmental group described counties Galway and Roscommon as "hot spots" for the higly dangerous illegal dumping of animal waste.

However the Department of Agriculture said: "It is not aware of any burial of animal waste by either individuals or abattoirs and naturally would not condone any such activity."

It said carcases can only be buried under licence from the Department and with due regard to environmental constraints.

"BSE infected animals are removed under controlled conditions from the farm and may not be buried," it added.

The Department said it has put in place a subsidised fallen animal collection scheme under which the cost of removal from the farm and destruction of all fallen farm animals is heavily subsidised.

It also said that the handling of animal waste from abattoirs is tightly controlled as part of overall regulation of the slaughter sector.

The Department said it was in touch directly with An Taisce seeking the basis for the statement and any facts they might have on the matter.

However the Labour Party called for a thorough investigation into claims by An Taisce.

Labour’s Dr Mary Upton described the claims as "extremely alarming".

Dr Upton said: "It appears that Government’s efforts to stamp out this type of illegal dumping are completely ineffective."

She said: "An Taisce has received reports of the dumping of BSE-infected animals in some areas, which has major consequences for public health."

Dr Upton called on Minister Walsh to conduct a investigation into these allegations immediately and prosecute with the full rigour of the law where necessary.

She said he must answer as to why local authorities are not acting on such complaints.