Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)

The report to which Deputy Naughten referred is of considerable concern to all of us with an interest in protecting the Irish food industry and the Irish consumer. While the Food Safety Authority is not under the banner of the Minister of State in terms of funding, is it acceptable that there are only five auditors to deal with 43,000 food businesses and that when a small sample of 90 was taken, a high percentage of those fell outside the legal requirement? Surely there is a need to increase the level of auditing capacity and the level of enforcement to restore confidence in the industry and on behalf of the consumer.

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