HC Deb 03 March 1988 vol 128 cc1140-1
2. Mr. Barry Field

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he is taking to assist island communities that lack an abattoir.

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Mr. Donald Thompson)

The provision of abattoirs is a matter for the commercial judgment of the businesses concerned.

Mr. Field

Does my hon. Friend agree that this country's experience in animal welfare is second to none in the EEC? Will he urgently consider the provision for casualties in constituencies such as mine, especially given the very tight margins that the pig industry faces?

Mr. Thompson

I fully understand my hon. Friend's problems in his constituency. There is a plan afoot with the National Farmers Union and others for just such a project—in fact a more ambitious project than my hon. Friend asks for—at about £60,000. Planning permission for the abattoir has not yet been applied for, and I advise my hon. Friend to urge those in his constituency forward in that plan.

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