Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion. Unlike some of my colleagues I have been present for previous debates on this area and I have been talking about this matter for the past 14 years. While they may be depressed at the reaction tonight, I am not surprised. There is a total lack of commitment to deal with this situation.

I live in the heartland of chicken and pigmeat production. Farmers tell me that chicken can be imported from anywhere, packaged and sold as Irish. How do we know the way the product was produced or its background? We have the same situation in the beef industry. It is imported from Brazil, with all the limitations on traceability that implies.

Deputy Brady, the Minister of State, Deputy Browne, and I visited Chicago several years ago. On American farms we saw the use of steroids in milk, hormones in beef and God knows what in chickens and everything else. Irish farmers must compete with those products on world markets. Talk about us being whiter than white while allowing unlabelled products is unacceptable.

In a few minutes we will be told that the Department of Health and Children deals with labels. We are dealing with the Government and surely it meets at least once a week when the Dáil sits. It is up to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to ensure the Minister for Health and Children is dealing with it. A scheme was agreed in respect of beef but personnel to man the scheme were not provided and so nothing is happening.

The cost of feed and the cost of buying it in the future is causing major problems for pig and poultry farmers at present. They do not know what the future holds. The Minister promised she will do all she can but she also promised that in respect of the nitrates directive. The small pig farmers who hoped she would do something for them are now gone, she no longer has to worry about them. I urge the Minister to introduce a labelling system so that people can buy the raw materials to feed their products and allow the industry to live.

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