Michelle O'Neill: Responsibility for regulating the slaughter of farm animals lies with the Food Standards Agency (FSA). District council environmental health officers, on behalf of the FSA, investigate allegations of animals slaughtered illegally, from a public health perspective. However, my Department has responsibility for investigating any animal health or welfare breaches associated with that illegal...
Michelle O'Neill: Unless the Member is referring to a particular case, I cannot comment. It is key that the FSA is very much in the lead on the slaughter of animals, although my Department will work collectively with the other agencies, such as the police and environmental health officers. We have a central enforcement team in place that takes the lead in some instances. A lot of these activities are...