Independent Ireland’s Ken O’Flynn has accused Ireland’s halal meat industry of “acting like a law unto itself.”
The TD said information provided to him by the statutory body, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) regarding targeted audits and unannounced inspections conducted at halal meat food operators have laid bare “a catalogue of collapses in safety and compliance controls” – something which he said was “extremely alarming.”
There is a growing halal slaughtering business in Ireland. According to Bord Bia, Muslims will account for over 50% of global and 30% of European (EU) and UK population growth. Lamb is a popular Halal meat widely consumed by Muslims, but Ireland also produces a range of other halal-certified meats, including duck, chicken beef, dairy, and baby formula. In Islam, animals must be slaughtered by a cut through the jugular vein.
All blood is then drained from the carcass, with a Muslim reciting a blessing or dedication during the process. Whilst European regulations require animals to be stunned before slaughter, exemptions are allowed on religious grounds. For meat to be considered kosher under Jewish law or halal under Islamic law, the animal needs to be conscious when killed.
Countries including Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, and Slovenia have banned non-stunned, or ritual, slaughter, which effectively prohibits halal slaughter based on animal welfare grounds. Finland, Malta and Switzerland also require pre-stunning before slaughter for most animals.
According to the Cork North-Central TD, FSAI audits were carried out in July 2019 and February 2020 covering 25 food businesses, in addition to Protected Disclosure initiated investigations in 2022 and 2024. These revealed breaches associated with meat traceability, labelling, incomplete intake records; significant discrepancies between the net quantities at intake of particular consignments of meat compared with the net quantities on hand and dispatched, and meat misleadingly described as ‘Halal’ on associated commercial documents.
According to Deputy O’Flynn, “Anyone reading the information provided to me by the FSAI would be hard pressed to come to any conclusion, other than the operators within the halal meat section appear to believe that regulations are only there to be ignored.”
“These were not minor or inconsequential breaches. They were systemic failures of basic due diligence by at least four companies claiming to offer halal meat,” O’Flynn added.
The TD said that one investigation led to the disposal of 12,000 kg of out of date and untraceable products of animal origin.
“These are disgusting and vile practices and they must be rooted out through a zero-tolerance approach,” he said, adding that he was concerned that the authority did not assess the varying methods of slaughter that are considered to come under the classification of halal.
“I think I am not alone in finding the practice of having animals cut at the throat, severing the jugular veins, a ruthless and needlessly barbaric practice,” O’Flynn said, adding: “However, my primary concern is for the safety and well-being of the Irish consumer who may be purchasing meat that is falsely or misleadingly labelled or actively dangerous to consume.”
“I would also say, while the FSAI has found breaches have occurred regarding claims to certain meat being labelled halal when it was not-how do we know the opposite practice is also not happening. Have Irish customers appalled by halal practices inadvertently bought animal meat prepared using halal practices because they were misleadingly labelled as non-halal?”
He said it was time for the government to “take a lead” on the issue and “put aside any concerns it may have about offending the sensibilities of certain communities.”
“This is first and foremost about a public health issue and the public’s right to accurate information,” O’Flynn said. “Government can no longer afford to turn a blind eye to fraud of this scale.”
Earlier this year, the practice of halal slaughtering caused controversy in the North, with a unionist councillor calling for CCTV to be installed in all slaughterhouses in Northern Ireland. He backed the move “particularly” in those where animals are killed using what he called “barbaric” halal practices.
The RSPCA has said that slaughter without pre-stunning causes “unnecessary suffering” to animals. Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Minister Andrew Muir MLA backed the move, saying that compulsory CCTV coverage will help “prevent and deter offences.”
Mr Muir said in April: “Where it has been introduced, it is accepted that mandatory CCTV coverage can lead to improvement in practices and operating processes, a greater ability to observe animals in areas that are inaccessible, improve consumer perception of slaughterhouses and help prevent and deter offences.”