PART I

Preliminary and General

1. —(1) This Act may be cited as the Abattoirs Act, 1988.

(2) This Act or any specified provision of this Act shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister may, by order, appoint.

(3) The Slaughter of Animals Act, 1935 , and section 47 of this Act shall be construed together as one Act and may be cited together as the Slaughter of Animals Acts, 1935 and 1988.

(4) The Agricultural Produce (Fresh Meat) Acts, 1930 to 1938, and sections 43 and 48 of this Act shall be construed together as one Act and may be cited together as the Agricultural Produce (Fresh Meat) Acts, 1930 to 1988.

(5) The Milk and Dairies Acts, 1935 and 1956, and section 49 of this Act shall be construed together as one Act and may be cited together as the Milk and Dairies Acts, 1935 to 1988.

(6) The Pigs and Bacon Acts, 1935 to 1961, and sections 43 and 50 of this Act shall be construed together as one Act and may be cited together as the Pigs and Bacon Acts, 1935 to 1988.

(7) The Bovine Diseases (Levies) Act, 1979 , and section 51 of this Act shall be construed together as one Act and may be cited together as the Bovine Diseases (Levies) Acts, 1979 and 1988.

(8) The Córas Beostoic agus Feola Act, 1979 , and section 52 of this Act shall be construed together as one Act and may be cited together as the Córas Beostoic agus Feola Acts, 1979 and 1988.

2. —(1) In this Act—

“abattoir” means any premises used for or in connection with the slaughter of animals whose meat is intended for human consumption and includes a slaughterhouse but does not include a place situate on a farm, other than a place referred to in subsection (2) of this section, which is used for the occasional slaughter of a pig, or for the slaughter of an animal which has been injured by accident and the slaughter of which is necessary to prevent its suffering and—

(a) such pig, or such injured animal, is maintained for farming purposes on such farm by its occupier, and

(b) the meat from such pig or such injured animal is intended for consumption only by the residents on such farm:

Provided that, for the purposes of this Act, the onus of proving that—

(i) the conditions specified at paragraphs (a) and (b) of this definition are complied with, or

(ii) an animal (other than a pig) which is slaughtered is an animal which has been injured by accident,

shall lie on the person seeking the benefit of such proof;

“abattoir licence” means a licence issued under section 9 of this Act;

“animal” means cattle, sheep, pigs, goats, horses and all other equine animals;

“appropriate fee” has the meaning assigned to it by section 10 of this Act;

“authorised officer” means an officer of the Minister or an officer of a local authority appointed to be an authorised officer for the purposes of this Act;

“carcase” means the whole body of a slaughtered animal after—

(a) bleeding and evisceration, and

(b) removal of the limbs at the carpus and tarsus, and

(c) removal of the head, tail and udder,

and, in the case of cattle, sheep, goats, horses and all other equine animals, after skinning;

“health mark” means the mark applied pursuant to section 40 of this Act;

“knackery” means any premises used for and in connection with the collection, delivery, supply, slaughter, storage, skinning or cutting up of animals or parts of animals which are not intended for human consumption, and “knackery” shall include any premises which are used—

(a) as a knacker's yard, or

(b) for the cutting up of dead animals, or parts of dead animals, for sale as dog or pet food, or

(c) as a kennels where dead animals or parts thereof are fed to hounds, or

(d) as a dead animal collection depot, or

(e) for hide removal,

but shall not include a premises used exclusively as either a meat and bonemeal or rendering plant, or as both a meat and bonemeal and rendering plant, or a premises registered under the Diseases of Animals (Feeding and Use of Swill) Orders, 1985 and 1987;

“knackery licence” means a licence issued under section 24 of this Act;

“licence” means, as the context may require, an abattoir licence or a knackery licence;

“local authority” means the council of a county or the corporation of a county borough;

“meat” means any part of an animal, including blood, which can be, or is, used for human consumption;

“Minister” means the Minister for Agriculture and Food;

“offal” means all parts of a slaughtered animal, other than the carcase;

“premises” includes land whether or not there are structures on the land;

“prescribed” means prescribed by Regulations and “prescribe” shall be construed accordingly;

“sanitary authority” has the meaning specified in section 37 of this Act;

“sell” includes offer (including a free offer), expose or keep for sale, invite an offer to buy, or distribute for reward and cognate words shall be construed accordingly;

“veterinary examination Regulations” means Regulations under section 39 of this Act;

“veterinary inspector” means a person who is a veterinary surgeon and is appointed by the Minister or by a local authority to be a veterinary inspector for the purposes of this Act;

“veterinary surgeon” means any person who is lawfully qualified to practice veterinary surgery in the State;

“viscera” means offal from the thoracic, abdominal and pelvic cavities (including the trachea and oesophagus).

(2) For the purposes of this Act, any place which is used for the slaughter of animals and is situate on a farm ancillary to a hotel, guest house, school, hospital, nursing home or other institution shall be deemed to be an abattoir.

(3) The Minister may, by order, for all or any of the purposes of this Act, amend—

(a) the definition of “animal” so as to extend the application of this Act or any of its provisions to such other animal or poultry as he considers necessary, or

(b) the definition of “animal” so as to exclude from the application of this Act or any of its provisions such animal or poultry as he considers necessary, or

(c) the definition of “abattoir” or “knackery” so as to extend the application of this Act or any of its provisions to such other premises as he considers necessary, or

(d) the definition of “abattoir” or “knackery” so as to exclude from the application of this Act or any of its provisions such type of premises as he considers necessary.

(4) The Minister may, by order, amend or revoke an order made under this section (including this subsection).

3. —(1) The enactments specified in Part I of the First Schedule to this Act are hereby repealed to the extent specified in the third column in that Part of that Schedule.

(2) The enactments specified in Part II of the First Schedule to this Act are hereby repealed to the extent specified in the third column in that Part of that Schedule.

(3) The enactments specified in Part III of the First Schedule to this Act are hereby repealed to the extent specified in the third column in that Part of that Schedule.

4. —This Act shall not apply to a premises which is—

(a) licensed under the Pigs and Bacon Acts, 1935 to 1961, or

(b) registered under the Agricultural Produce (Fresh Meat) Acts, 1930 to 1938, and which is for the time being occupied by a person who holds a licence under those Acts.

5. —The following provisions, that is to say—

(a) section 50 of the Towns Improvement (Ireland) Act, 1854,

(b) sections 16, 27 and 28 of the Dublin General Markets Act, 1861,

(c) section 16 of the Dublin Cattle Market Act, 1862,

(d) section 144 of the Cork Improvement Act, 1868,

(e) sections 124 (4) and (5) of the Sligo Borough Improvement Act, 1869,

(f) sections 128 to 131 of the Public Health (Ireland) Act, 1878, and

(g) section 104 of the Dublin Corporation Act, 1890,

shall not apply to an abattoir or a knackery to which this Act applies.

6. —The expenses incurred by the Minister in the administration of this Act shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.