Denis Naughten (Longford-Roscommon, Fine Gael)

Ireland has moved into the post-manufacturing age. Across the majority of manufacturing sectors from textiles to electronics, plants are shutting down and jobs are being lost. Ireland can no longer compete with eastern Europe and Asia in these manufacturing sectors. Innovation led sectors such as biotechnology and ICT enterprises are now growing rapidly but these, too, are vulnerable to changing market trends, for example, the recent closure of Media Lab Europe, the anchor tenant in the digital hub in Dublin. I, therefore, believe that it is the food industry which could become Ireland's most secure economic sector for the future.

The food and drink sector accounts for almost half of the output value and for 29% of employment of all indigenous Irish industry. We can provide the raw material from beef to milk and so forth. We have a reputation for providing clean, pure and safe food. If we play smart, there is massive potential for further growth. By strategically developing Irish farming and food processing to become more commercial, more consumer orientated and more competitive on the global markets, we can secure a prosperous future for Irish farmers as the main supplier to this industry and we can aid the overall growth of the Irish economy.

Until now, Irish political debate has not focused on the future prospects for Irish agriculture and the food processing industry. The Irish political establishment has not provided vision for the long-term development of these sectors. Fine Gael is intent on raising the bar. The new order brought about by the introduction of the single farm payment as well as bringing increased focus on quality must also sharpen the focus on production and processing costs, efficient use of capacity and supply chain management issues.

Unlike other sectors, such as biotechnology and ICT, the Government is failing to provide strong direction for the future development of the food processing industry. At present, there is a diversity of State agencies dealing with the food processing sector. While each agency provides valuable and effective service, such as Bord Bia's global market development work or Enterprise Ireland's work in developing indigenous food processing enterprises, there is a lack of an overall sense of strategic leadership and co-ordination. We need a more streamlined hierarchy for State involvement in the development of the agri-food sector. A new high level body, directly responsible to the Minister for Agriculture and Food, must be established to co-ordinate, advise and oversee the work of all State agencies involved in the sector.

Bord Bia should be responsible for the global marketing of Irish food and drink and administering public funding for marketing by individual firms. Teagasc should be responsible for conducting research into primary food and base product production and administering public funding for capital investment, training and research and development by farm producers. Enterprise Ireland should be responsible for supporting development of indigenous food processing enterprises and administering public funding for capital investment, training and research and development by processors.

The Government has failed to adequately fund research and development activity across all food sectors. Despite the proven economic importance of the food processing industry to the State and the potential for future export growth, the food processing industry receives significantly less State funding for research and development than other high tech sectors. We are not doing enough to promote, enhance and develop our strategically important food industry. Under the national development plan to date, only €14 million per annum has been spent under the research, technology and innovation measure. Less than €6 million per annum has been granted to Bord Bia under the marketing and promotion measure, with only €350,000 paid out in company grants by Bord Bia in 2004 to help companies better market and promote their products. The community enterprise support scheme, which facilitated the development of community based enterprises in the food sector, has not provided one cent of support in 2004 and looks unlikely to provide assistance in 2005.

These figures are derisory and expose the incompetency and directionless stance toward developing our valuable food industry, which has become the hallmark of the Department of Agriculture and Food in recent years. Meanwhile, biotechnology and information and communications technology sectors each receive nearly twice what the food industry received.

Given the status of the food processing sector as a secure indigenous industry with strong potential for future growth, the Government must fund the development of a cutting edge research and development environment so as to develop the Irish food processing industry as one of the most innovative in the world. A dynamic and innovative Irish processing industry must develop high quality, pure, safe and traceable produce, from value added consumer products and ingredients aimed at specialist and niche markets to mass commodity and base materials for further processing; identify changing consumer trends and demands both at home and abroad, anticipate them and innovate in response; implement strong marketing programmes to increase sales of Irish produce globally; and undertake cutting edge research and development that will allow transfer of knowledge gained through research into produce development and innovation.

One critical step in achieving this is to have a clearly defined product which the consumer associates with safety and quality. Fine Gael is extremely concerned that the current labelling loopholes have the potential to erode this strength of consumer confidence in Irish produce, not least because they allow for the potential of mislabelling and for non-Irish products to be passed off as Irish. The Government's food agency, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, has already signalled that the system is being abused through its identification of meat mislabelling. Despite this, the Government fails to clamp down on those who are breaking the law. Any potential for abuse is totally unacceptable, given the seriousness of the public and animal health implications.

Surveys have shown that the majority of Irish consumers will choose Irish meat products because they are confident of their safety, quality and high production standards. There is no doubt that the current safeguards which surround Irish meat products are of a high level and that the Irish public has strong confidence in the quality and safety of the product it consumes. It is vital that this high level of confidence is maintained.

The Government's failure to close legal loopholes which currently exist in food labelling will undermine consumer confidence in our produce. It must act now to ensure that our food labelling system is watertight. Currently, some firms are reprocessing beef and other meats, such as chicken and pork, from third countries and selling them on as Irish, or at least they are not overtly pointing out that they are non-Irish. If third country meat is altered or processed in some manner, by what the EU regulations define as substantial transformation, for example, pork to sausages, the processor can label this product as Irish. This EU definition is open to significant abuse by processors. As a result, non-Irish meat is being passed off as Irish and consumers are none the wiser.

This continues to be a significant problem, particularly with meat sold by the catering industry. All meat sold in catering establishments throughout Ireland should clearly indicate country of origin. This meat must comply with the same requirements that apply to meat sold in our butchers and supermarkets.

The Minister has expressed support for regulations at EU level whereby beef served in the catering or restaurant sector would have country of origin on the menu. However, this must be extended to all meat types, chicken, pork and lamb. In May last year, the then Minister, Deputy Walsh, announced that he was going it alone and would introduce country of origin labelling requirements for all beef sold in the catering trade. To date, we have seen no action and this requirement appears to be nowhere in sight. These labelling standards are critical to protect the reputation of Irish produce.

One threat is the relabelling or non-labelling of Brazilian beef. Brazil is our largest supplier of imported beef, with 5,000 tonnes imported annually, amounting to 94% of our imported beef. Late last year, a report was published by the EU Food and Veterinary Office which indicated that imported meat does not match standards required of Irish beef products. The report on Brazilian beef, carried out in May 2004, expressed concerns over issues such as animal traceability, vaccinations, animal movement systems and slaughterhouse hygiene. This is even more worrying as Bord Bia believes there will be an increase in low-priced, non-EU beef entering Europe in 2005, particularly from South America. It is unsettling that the food and veterinary office found that in the case of Brazil significant food safety issues persist especially given an earlier report in 2003, the year in which the office last inspected the control systems in place there from the farm to the export stage. Similar complaints about the structures in place were identified at that time. It is worrying that the inadequacy of the hygiene and traceability system in Brazil remains unresolved over a year later.

It is imperative that all labelling loopholes are closed to ensure the distinction between imported meat and that produced at home is clear to Irish consumers. While the Government claims it is waiting for the EU to enact regulations, this does not have to be the case. Last year, the Department of Agriculture and Food introduced legislation to ensure that consumers buying non-prepacked poultry meat were made aware of the country of origin at the point of sale. Why cannot the Minister act to ensure the country of origin appears on all meat products sold to consumers in Ireland? The Minister is hiding behind the EU to excuse the Department's inaction. Ireland can act by itself and we need to reach agreement on country of origin labelling.

The labelling group established by the Department of Agriculture and Food failed to agree a clear recommendation for country of origin food labelling. The group has been tasked with a duty and I urge it to reach agreement as soon as possible. The current scenario is simply not good enough and we need to establish a single, clear and transparent labelling regime for Irish goods. Other countries are already labelling and branding their own products. The Scots and French are now branding beef while the Americans are doing so on a voluntary basis. A precedent exists which Ireland can follow.

Since June 1996, Scotch and Orkney beef products have been registered under the European system for the protection of traditional food names. Scotch beef has protected geographical indication status while Orkney beef has protected designation of origin status. Protected geographical indication status covers products produced and-or processed and-or prepared within a geographical area defined in an application. The product must have a specific quality reputation or other attributes characteristic of an area. Characteristics of Scotch beef are specialist breeds with naturally supple calves, relatively extensive farms based on grass feeding whether grazed or conserved hay or silage and highly competent stockmen. As Irish beef could easily fit into those three categories, why cannot we have a distinctive label for our products? It is critical to put a system in place. The mechanism for doing so exists and should be used as a vehicle to develop an Irish-branded product here and on continental European markets.

Fine Gael is intent on raising the bar in the politics of farming and food. It is only by having a fresh vision that Ireland can fully engage with the realities and challenges of making farming viable post-decoupling. We must make farming more commercial and consumer orientated to allow us to compete and win on the global food market. Fine Gael is not afraid of these challenges. We will stand by Irish farmers and strive to develop Ireland as the home of the most dynamic and innovative food-processing industry in Europe. It is critical to consider agriculture as a consumer-orientated product. We must develop our products and our industry while focusing on the consumer in the context of the single-farm payment. On that basis, I commend the motion to the House.

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