A SMALL criminal ring is continuing to use angel dust in beef production, the Minister for Agriculture said yesterday. Mr Yates was speaking at a press conference where the illegal drug Clenbuterol was put on show.
The Minister announced new measures to achieve what he termed "a final push" against the group which he said was an unrepresentative minority of farmers.
However, he said claims by Mr Peter Dargan of the Irish Consumers' Association of widespread use of the drug were misleading and his allegations needed to be substantiated.
Mr Yates said he had written to the consumers' association asking it to substantiate the recent comments by Mr Dargan who is chairman of their strategy group.
"Any new evidence or leads, received from the consumers association will be expeditiously acted upon," he said.
He had called the press conference to assure Irish consumers and overseas customers that Ireland had the strictest legislation and most extensive screening system of any country in Europe.
Mr Yates said increased screening of carcasses at meat plants since 1993 had shown a dramatic decrease in the abuse of angel dust by farmers and others.
Asked why no one had yet been jailed under the new legislation, which carries penalties of £250,000 or 10 years' imprisonment on conviction, the Minister said nearly 200 cases were being delayed by a Supreme Court challenge to the legislation.
Last year, 637 animals and carcasses were confirmed as positive to illegal substances out of a total of 84,500 animals sampled, a 50 per cent reduction on 1994.
He said a confidential hotline service was being set up so the public could inform the Department about criminal activities.
He was also introducing legislation to enable the results of sampling carried out at individual meat factories to be published. Laboratory facilities for analysis were being expanded and additional testing would be carried out by Teagasc and other private, laboratories.
The Minister said there would be a review of measures relating to the traceability of animals presented at meat plants by people using false names.
Asked why he intended to publish the results of sampling carried out at individual factories, the Minister said there were substantial differences between the levels detected at different meat plants.
"The aim of this measure is to make the operators of meat factories subject to public scrutiny in relation to the controls they exercise regarding the purchase and slaughter of animals after March 1st next," said Mr Yates.
He said the Department's Special Investigation Unit would continue its work of focusing on, the illegal activities of the small criminal group involved and this work would be intensified.
Mr Colm Gaynor, Chief Veterinary Officer of the Department, said there was no evidence of paramilitary involvement in the trade and no area in the country where abuse was higher than in, other areas.
There was also no evidence that the angel dust "pushers" had developed a new substance to mask the presence of Clenbuterol in an animal, even though the pushers sometimes told farmers they had a new, undetectable drug as a sales pitch.
The confidential hotline telephone number is 1-850-245 900.