Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)

As the Minister is aware, there is concern in the beef industry in regard to the amount of imports from Brazil specifically. Questions have been highlighted in regard to the recent outbreak of foot and mouth disease which have alerted us to the fact that there may be underlying problems in countries such as Brazil of which we are unaware. Given that the Minister said regular inspections are carried out by the FVO, what is the frequency of those inspections? What percentage of the factories from which we purchase beef are tested and how regularly are those tests carried out? On the issue of labelling we can no longer have a choice. That is the key issue from a consumer point of view. There is a beef industry problem but there is a consumer perception that the consumer is disadvantaged and has no idea of the origin of that product at catering level.

See this speech in context