No arrests were made following searches of seven premises as part of an investigation into the tampering of identification passports and microchips of horses presented for slaughter in Ireland.

Gardaí, the Department of Agriculture and the Food Safety Authority of Ireland searched farms, houses and a commercial premises in counties Roscommon, Leitrim, Sligo, Westmeath and Kilkenny, last Thursday morning.

Up until 31 May this year, some 2,585 horses were slaughtered in Ireland for human consumption, while 6,573 were killed last year.

Two European food safety alerts have been issued relating to horses and horsemeat from Ireland in the last two months.

On 4 June, Irish authorities issued an alert about a serious risk from dioxins found in chilled horsemeat from Ireland. The meat, which had been distributed to France, was recalled.

On 2 May, tins of Lackmann Tuschonka Konskaya horsemeat were recalled “as a precautionary measure” due to uncertainty as to the traceability of the meat. The recall followed an EU alert triggered by the UK authorities on 4 March.

It cited poor traceability records (potential tampering with passport) for horses from the UK and Ireland that were slaughtered in Germany.

The meat had been distributed to Belgium, China, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland and the UK.

Tins of Lackmann Tuschonka Konskaya horsemeat were recalled due to uncertainty as to the traceability of the meat.\ FSAI

Last week’s searches were part of an ongoing investigation by the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation into offences of deception pursuant to Section 6 of the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud) Offences Act, 2001, surrounding fraudulent practices regarding tampering of identification passports and microchips of horses presented for slaughter in Ireland.

The operation also involved the Criminal Assets Bureau, Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau and Garda National Cyber Crime Bureau. The Department of Agriculture has confirmed that there are two premises in Ireland approved for the slaughter of horses for human consumption. They are Emerald Isle Foods in Thomastown, Co Kilkenny, and Shannonside Foods, Straffan, Co Kildare.