asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what will be the position of the public health inspectors in regard to the future inspection of meat, in view of the fact that in the EEC countries this matter is dealt with by veterinarians.

The EEC meat directive, which requires veterinary inspection of red meat, applies only to intra-Community trade. We cannot anticipate future developments, but the intention of the Government is that responsibility for domestic meat inspection should remain with local authorities, which generally use public health inspectors and authorised meat inspectors for the work, although a few employ veterinarians.