Mr. Philip Carroll:

I thank the Chairman for giving me this opportunity to outline the role and functions of the new investigations division set up by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine last July. He has already introduced my colleagues, Mr. Richard Healy and Mr. Pat Flanagan.

As the joint committee will be aware, the Department is responsible for the expenditure of substantial amounts of money, both from the national Exchequer and the European Union. In addition, it is responsible for implementing and enforcing a considerable volume of national and EU legislation which is generally aimed at protecting human and animal health. For these reasons, it is not surprising that it deploys a substantial number of general control and inspectorate staff members to ensure food safety, animal health and welfare and safeguard the expenditure of public funds. These controls underpin and safeguard public confidence in agrifood production and processing in Ireland and contribute to a very significant export market, worth €10 billion in 2013. Occasionally, the enforcement of these controls leads to further investigations into matters of possible wrongdoing and prosecutions.

The investigation of illegal activity and the prosecution of such activity can be a complex process requiring particular expertise and many organisations have set up specialist units to conduct these investigations. The then Department of Agriculture set up the special investigation unit back in the mid-1980s to provide specialist inspectors within the Department to investigate and deal with serious practices and problems in the use of illegal substances such as hormones, angel dust and so on. Apart from the risk to human health, the abuse of illegal growth promoters was posing a huge risk to the reputation of the agrifood industry and needed to be addressed urgently. I am pleased to say this problem disappeared relatively quickly in the 1990s following a series of convictions. The scope of the unit was subsequently extended to include a wide range of legislation, including legislation relating to the TB and brucellosis eradication schemes, other animal health legislation, animal welfare legislation and legislation relating to animal identification. Its remit was also extended to investigations into potential fraud with regard to national and EU funds.

I mentioned the success of the special investigations unit in addressing the issue of the illegal use of growth promoters. I believe the work of the unit, in encouraging greater compliance with legislation, made a significant contribution to the huge progress we have seen in the past ten years in disease eradication. This is particularly the case with brucellosis which has now been eradicated and BSE which has been more or less eradicated. There has also been very considerable progress in the eradication of bovine TB, the incidence of which has been reduced to a record low level in the past two years. The progress achieved in eradicating these diseases has resulted in very significant savings to the national Exchequer. For example, expenditure on tackling TB and brucellosis which amounted to €76 million in 2002 fell to under €32 million last year.

The world does not still and the work of the Department is growing increasingly complex all the time, as was evident in the horsemeat scandal last year. The Department responded to the challenge, as part of an ongoing modernisation of its structures and as part of the wider public service reform process, by reviewing and updating its investigative procedures. Committee members will be aware that the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Simon Coveney, announced in September that, following a review of the governance structure around the conduct of all investigations by the Department, it had been decided that a new investigations division would be established. In making this announcement he formally acknowledged the dedication and commitment of the staff of the Department who carried out investigations, sometimes in very challenging circumstances.

He specifically referenced his first-hand experience in the context of the equine DNA investigation which, he said, had been conducted by departmental officers in a highly pressurised environment where their focus and sense of purpose had been highly visible and extremely successful.

The new arrangement brings all of the Department’s investigation capabilities, both internal and external, into one division. It is headed by a senior superintending veterinary officer, Mr. Flanagan, supported by a team of investigators, some of whom are core members of the team, with others to be drawn from areas where their expertise will be beneficial in the conduct of particular investigations. The new division reports to an investigations steering group which is chaired by the assistant secretary responsible for corporate affairs - me for the time being - and will comprise the Chief Veterinary Officer, the assistant secretary with responsibility for direct payments and the heads of the legal services, internal audit and human resources divisions. The group will, in all new cases, determine whether matters should be referred back to the relevant inspection areas of the Department for follow-through, whether an investigation is warranted and, if so, whether it should be conducted by the investigations division or referred to the Garda. Where investigations are being conducted internally, the steering group will oversee their conduct and, in conjunction with the head of the division, determine whether the submission of cases for prosecution is warranted. The new investigations division includes the functions previously undertaken by the special investigations unit.

I stress that the objective of the Department in performing its enforcement and investigative functions is to promote the highest levels of legal compliance to protect the health of consumers and promote and sustain a vibrant agrifood industry in Ireland and protect public funds. This is vital to Ireland’s reputation internationally. In altering the inspection capability in the manner outlined we have enhanced our capacity to protect Ireland’s international reputation, while also providing for enhanced governance arrangements in respect of when and how investigations are carried out. We now have in place a strong, cohesive, consolidated and effective investigation capability to ensure and protect the reputation of the expanding agrifood industry and public funds.