THE SECRETARY general of the Department of Agriculture Tom Moran will be the first witness on Thursday at the Oireachtas agriculture committee inquiry into the handling of the dioxin crisis.
The joint Oireachtas committee agreed to suspend all other business to investigate the scare which saw the recall of Irish pork products which had been contaminated by cattle feed.
As the Garda and Environmental Protection Agency continue to investigate the source of the contamination, it was confirmed yesterday the slaughter and destruction of 100,000 pigs caught up in the scare has not yet been completed.
These animals, which were fed contaminated feed from a Co Carlow recycling plant, are being slaughtered and their carcasses disposed of at rendering plants. This has been a relatively slow process because the animals had to be dealt with on killing lines which have no links with the food chain.
Discussions are continuing between the farming groups, processors and other interested parties on how best to deal with 5,000 cattle which were also exposed to the feed. The Government has said none of these animals will be allowed back into the food chain and they will also be slaughtered and disposed of by incineration.
It had been expected 10,000 cattle would be slaughtered, but this figure has now been reduced to between 5,000-6,000 animals.
The Oireachtas committee will also be seeking evidence from the department's chief veterinary officer Paddy Rogan and other officials directly involved in the handling of the crisis which came to light on December 6th last.