Health Minister Michael McGimpsey picked up answer machine messages about the pork contamination scare on Sunday afternoon — 16 hours after the Food Standards Agency was alerted to the unfolding situation, the Assembly has been told.

The Minister also disclosed that attempts were made to contact him on Sunday morning, but he was at church at this time.

It has further been confirmed that Northern Ireland’s Department of Agriculture was notified about the contamination problem in the Republic on Friday. Minister Michelle Gildernew was informed the following day.

Concerns have been voiced this week about the response of the province’s authorities to the dioxin contamination alert.

In contrast to the position south of the border, no official advice on eating, purchasing or selling pork was in place here when stores opened on Sunday afternoon. MLAs have also asked questions on when Stormont Ministers were made aware of the situation.

Mr McGimpsey told MLAs this week that the Government Food Standards Agency (FSA) was contacted by its counterpart in the Republic at 10.30pm on Saturday night.

“I was contacted, and messages were left on my answering machine. On Sunday morning, I was at church, and I did not hear those messages until 2.30pm,” Mr McGimpsey said.

“At that point, I had conversations with the relevant officer who looks after emergency planning in the department, with the Chief Medical Officer and with other individuals concerned.”

The Minister also said: “I am not in a position to comment on when other people received the information. The FSA received the information at 10.30pm on Saturday. The matter was then investigated, and attempts were made to contact me on Sunday morning. Those attempts were successful early on Sunday afternoon.”

Agriculture Minister Michelle Gildernew told MLAs that her department was informed by its counterpart in the Republic of southern contamination test results on Friday afternoon.

“I was notified of the matter on Saturday, and I spoke to the chief veterinary officer and senior officials on Saturday,” she said.

“I spoke to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in the south on Sunday morning. I spoke again to my chief veterinary officer on Sunday morning, and I spoke to the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety early on Sunday afternoon.

“The situation was evolving, and we were finding out information as it developed. We wanted to act proportionately.

“We did not want to overreact, but, equally, we did not want to under-react and face possible EU questions about how we dealt with the situation.”