Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

I said, as I did when Deputy Upton asked a similar question, that the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Deputy Coughlan, had consistently raised this issue at meetings of the EU Council of Ministers. It will arise again in the context of the WTO negotiations and deliberations at the EU Council of Ministers next Monday. There will be a further European audit and a further FVO inspection before the end of this summer. It is unfair of Deputy Naughten to suggest that eminent professionals who have the confidence of the FVO would treat their work as a holiday and I do not believe that, on reflection, he would consider it true. They are people of the utmost competence and professional ability.

We have raised the issues of concern over equivalence in the standards that apply. At present, EU legislation only authorises imports from Brazil of de-boned and maturated bovine meat, without offals, from certain parts of Brazil. Other organisations, as well as public representatives and Members of both Houses of the Oireachtas, have quite rightly raised their concerns over standards that apply in South America and elsewhere and the Minister has been active in raising it at all Council of Ministers meetings. She wrote a comprehensive letter to the Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection. The Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, in response to a question from Deputy Naughten a week ago, said the issue had been referred to the Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection on numerous occasions. This is an issue we will continue to keep on the agenda because it demands the utmost diligence and attention.

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