Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)

The nitrates directive will have major implications for north Kerry, especially in the Feale catchment area, the most intensive dairy and farming part of the country. It will have major implications for the pig and poultry industries in the area.

I refer to the food labelling element of this motion. Food labelling is consumers' first point of contact with Irish food and they must be assured that products branded Irish are Irish. The same applies to overseas markets, where many customers chose Irish produce over any other product. There is no room for uncertainty or complacency.

CSO figures show that beef imports increased by a staggering 60% to almost 30,000 tonnes, representing a third of the entire domestic requirement. The Minister for Agriculture and Food has continued to stall on implementing a labelling requirement for the catering sector. Current EU legislation allows any meat product imported from outside the EU to be labelled as an EU product provided it has undergone a substantial transformation. Currently, beef from Brazil, lamb from New Zealand, chicken from Thailand, pork from the United States and vegetables from Israel are being passed off as Irish. Irish labelling laws have failed to make this practice illegal.

Irish agriculture and food is facing tremendous pressure from imports, price cuts arising from world trade talks and the impact of the global marketplace. We have a quality product, with a good international reputation, which could be severely undermined if we do not protect it with watertight labelling laws. The Ministers for Agriculture and Food and Health and Children lack the willpower to end current labelling loopholes. Many firms are reprocessing meats such as chicken and pork from third countries and selling these on as Irish or failing to point out that the meats are non-Irish.

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