Flaws in Ireland’s horsemeat production and traceability rules have been identified in an audit by the European Commission.

In May of 2019, auditors visiting Ireland met with the Department of Agriculture and inspected two horse factories, a cutting plant, two passport issuing bodies, a horse trainer and a racecourse.

Auditors found a number of shortcomings in horsemeat traceability:

  • The registration system does not allow for the identification of horse dealers, whose main activity is to buy and keep horses for limited time periods.
  • Horse owners do not consistently meet their obligations when it comes to registering horses – ie. horses are not registered or are registered after the compulsory registration period of 12 months.
  • There is a “near-absence” of the recording of medical treatments, even in horses which were over 10 years old.
  • There were also issues noted with passport handling at knackeries.
  • The number of horses slaughtered has fluctuated between 6,000 and 7,700 over the last number of years.