It's perfectly correct according to the regulation as the sentence that specifically stated that ME privileges also gave SE has gone in the transition from JAR-FCL to Aircrew Regulation.
It would be true for new pilots who do the exams, for pilots who had a JAR-FCL license even if you had a SE-IR it would only say ME-IR on your license, because a ME-IR was also valid for SE-IR. So when they converted a license from JAA to EASA they can't just drop a rating you have legally obtained. Telling you to do a SE-IR course and a new exam, and for what? To obtain a rating that at that time was still valid for 9 months?