Debate contribution: Mandatory Use of Closed Circuit Television in Slaughterhouses Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2026
Debate contribution by Mr John Blair on .
- MLA
- Mr John Blair
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 29 June 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Executive Committee Business
- Heading
- Mandatory Use of Closed Circuit Television in Slaughterhouses Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2026
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5645211
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I, like others, rise as a member of the AERA Committee in support of the regulations, which seek to make CCTV mandatory in our slaughterhouses. I do not intend to repeat all of the relevant points that have been covered by the Committee Chair and Committee colleagues. The regulations are a pillar in Minister Muir's wider animal welfare pathway. The Minister has made it clear that that pathway is about making our current animal welfare legislation more robust by raising standards, building public confidence and supporting a more humane agri-food sector. That is central to public trust and market access. Mandatory CCTV in slaughterhouses provides monitoring of what happens in those parts of the process that the public do not see but, nevertheless, care about. It supports the Department's role in enforcement by ensuring that animal welfare standards are being upheld. At their core, the regulations are based on prevention, accountability and transparency. Ultimately, the regulations will enable our agri-food sector to demonstrate high standards of animal welfare from farm to fork, which is increasingly important to consumers, retailers and export markets. Mandatory CCTV gives additional confidence that Northern Ireland is continuing to move in the same direction as other countries across the globe. I commend the Minister — my colleague — for bringing forward the regulations as part of his wider animal welfare pathway. They will continue to ensure that Northern Ireland is firmly on the side of high welfare standards. I am pleased to support the regulations, and I urge colleagues to do so too.
257 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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