Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

First, in response to Deputy Browne on the testing, we are testing on a weekly basis a product that is on the market to verify the product will be there and also to ensure that there is confidence that it does what is stated on the label and what it is registered to do. As I say, there have been 75 of those done in the past couple of months. There has been no issue arising from a public health point of view as a result of that.

I became aware of the matter on 22 October, the day on which the public was given notice of the withdrawal. The Department dealt with it as an operational matter before that. It is not unusual for issues like this to be dealt with by the Department. Given the nature of this issue, there is no doubt that it should have been escalated to me earlier. The Department, however, was dealing with it on an operational basis, as it would deal with any issue like this. Preliminary results were available on 6 October and confirmatory results were available on 16 October, at which time the withdrawal notice was issued to the company.

The company supplying this product carries the legal responsibility to ensure that it is safe and complies with the licence to supply it. In the event of a withdrawal, the company has the legal obligation to carry it out efficiently and effectively. As I have noted, my Department is currently following through on that. That process is ongoing. I will comment further once it has been completed.

Deputy Fitzmaurice asked about test results. OLAF made contact with us on foot of tests conducted on ViraPro products in Denmark. OLAF contacted the Revenue Commissioners after tracing some of this product to Ireland. That product was confiscated and quarantined by the Department and tests were carried out. Varying levels of methanol were detected.