Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)

The issue is not one of labelling but rather one of detection and the procedures which are in place for it. We must have learned a very hard lesson from the foot and mouth disease. At that time there was a knee-jerk reaction whereby all the systems moved to protect Ireland from an outbreak of foot and mouth disease after it had been detected and declared in the UK. We were particularly lucky to escape as we did. We had good systems in place but there was a knee-jerk reaction in response. However, we now have an opportunity to put in place a system in advance. What plans does the Department have for such a system?

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