Vol. 509 No. 1
64 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the position of the Garda investigation into the seizure of a consignment of cattle at the AIBP plant, Nenagh, County Tipperary, which were believed to have been smuggled from Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19721/99]
The Deputy will appreciate that it is not the practice for the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to give detailed information to the House about an individual Garda investigation or operation except where the circumstances of an investigation are so exceptional that such a course is deemed to be appropriate.
All I propose to say in this case is that I have been informed by the Garda authorities that the cattle seizure in question is still the subject of a full and detailed Garda investigation. I understand that a file will be forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions for directions on completion of the investigation.
I can assure the Deputy that the smuggling of cattle and the implications for the contamination of the food chain are taken very seriously by the State agencies concerned. As the Deputy may remember the Garda implemented Operation Matador in 1996 as a response to this specific threat.
