It has been revealed that one of two plants that slaughter horses here has been suspended from operations following a Department of Agriculture inspection last Friday. Officials who visited Ossory Meats in Offaly found problems with 25 horses.

These included issues with the horse markings being different to those noted on their passports and some of those presented as being yearlings being much older.

An interim report on the mislabelling of meat says the incident is extraordinary and particularly the brazenness in attempting to have these animals slaughtered at a time when controls had been enhanced.

The report highlighted a number of points:

• The equine DNA found in consignments of frozen beef products was labelled to be of Polish origin. It says "there are clear concerns about the activities of traders/intermediaries operating outside the State. Information uncovered in the investigation has been passed to the appropriate authorities and Europol".
• In the case of one Polish company, whose product was found positive for equine DNA, the Polish company arranged to collect the consignment and reimburse the Irish operator (QK Meats).
• The investigation concludes that in the case of Silvercrest and Rangeland Meats there was no evidence that they deliberately purchased or used horsemeat in their production processes or that these companies were relabeling or tampering with inward consignments
• B&F Meats was found to be involved in mislabelling of a limited quantity of horsemeat for export to the Czech Republic. While the company claims that no fraudulent intent was involved, the placing of a false label on a product and the question of instituting legal proceedings in this respect remains under consideration

The Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney said "Given the reputational issues for the Irish food industry as a whole, I believe the practices by two companies of not respecting customer specifications (in case of Silvercrest) and of knowingly withholding information about problems in the supply chain (in case of QK Cold stores) are totally unacceptable".

"Likewise I am extremely concerned at the failure of ABP to maintain proper oversight of Silvercrest. We have a right to expect better from the Irish food industry. The companies have let themselves down as well as risking reputational damage to the Irish food sector itself" he added.

In the Dáil the Minister promised the incident would be fully investigated.