(Limerick West) and Mr. H. Byrne asked the Minister for Agriculture the number of prosecutions for compound feeds found under quality in 1982.

There were no prosecutions for breaches of feedingstuffs legislation in 1982.

Is the Minister satisfied because there were no prosecutions there were no breaches? Is the Department engaged in assessing this type of activity?

That is a separate question.

It is not.

I think it is.

For the sake of peace and quiet I do not mind replying to the Deputy. There are loopholes in present legislation involving prosecutions regarding the constitution of feedingstuffs. We are examining at the moment and have been for some time past ways of improving the regulations. In particular it is hoped to make new regulations under the European Communities Act, 1972, implementing the EEC farm regulations governing feedingstuffs. There is a technical difficulty in that the feedingstuffs have to be for sale and it is difficult to prove that. Samples are taken in the compounders' premises and it is difficult to prove that the feedingstuffs are for sale at that point. There is a technical difficulty at the moment that we are attempting to overcome.

Would the Minister not agree that he should pursue this matter as one of urgency because over the last number of years there has been considerable concern regarding various products and that there was not sufficient monitoring of the quality?

Yes, I am concerned about that and that is why we are pursuing the possibility of introducing new regulations.

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