§ Mr. YeoTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the decision of the Food Standards Agency to Commission research by Dr. Christl Donnelly on the number of cases of BSE in the Republic of Ireland. [144326]
§ Ms. Stuart[holding answer 8 January 2001]: We welcome the decision by the Food Standards Agency to seek advice from Dr. Donnelly on BSE incidence in the Republic of Ireland. We expect the agency to make assessments of any possible risks on imported foods as well as domestic production, in order properly to advise the Government. Dr. Donnelly is a respected scientist in her field.
In the view of the FSA, the best protection of the United Kingdom consumer continues to be the vigorous enforcement of the controls on specified risk material and of the prohibition on the sale for human consumption of beef from animals aged over 30 months at time of slaughter.