Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. Dolan and his colleagues. The importance of the body is evident from the fact that it was one of the six of implementation bodies established following the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. The last point concerned research. Does safefood collaborate with institutes of technology and universities throughout the island of Ireland on research? One of my bugbears is the amount of duplication in this country. Representing two southern Ulster counties, I see too much duplication and not enough collaboration at public service level in general. There is plenty of potential for consolidating research in one university, institute of technology or research institute instead of everyone doing a little bit of this and that. It is not putting public money to best use or getting the best outcomes from research. I have noticed, over the past few years, more third level institutions developing food programmes and it concerns me. It is always better to have specialist centres. We know about the value of specialist centres in the delivery in health services. It is similar in research and innovation.

We have expertise in and a focus on particular areas. Does safefood collaborate with third level institutes throughout the island of Ireland? I presume there is room for improvement with regard to co-operation and eliminating duplication.

On food poisoning caused by chicken, the delegates have noted that they launched the food safety awareness campaign in partnership with the Food Standards Agency in Northern Ireland. There was no mention of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland in that context. Was it because of fiefdom building or defence that it was not involved?

In regard to childhood obesity and awareness campaigns, the delegates mentioned fizzy drinks. Sports sponsorship is a related and contentious issue, particularly alcohol companies sponsoring sports programmes. What non-alcoholic drinks pose particular dangers?

People sometimes confuse safefood and the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, although I know that they have separate remits. safefood's role is the promotion of good health and lifestyle standards. Advertising and marketing programmes are often the only way to get the message out, but perhaps it would also be useful to go into the marketplace to meet potential consumers. Ten years ago I was involved in the roll-out of the Food Dude programme which aimed to persuade children to eat more fruit and vegetables. The outcome of the programme was very satisfactory. Children were provided with various fruits and vegetables at school and by this means they often educated their own parents on the importance of consuming fruit and vegetables. It is welcome that safefood is working with Youthreach and its counterpart north of the Border. Have the delegates thought about working at primary school level? I recognise that the question arises of finding resources to reach the 3,000 primary schools in the State. However, in working with children, they will bring the message to their parents.