Tom Kitt (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)

The military authorities have clarified the position regarding the inclusion of Brazilian beef in ration packs supplied to the Defence Forces under contract.

A tender competition for the supply of ration packs to the Defence Forces was advertised in the Official Journal of the European Union and conducted in accordance with national and EU public procurement rules. All quotations received came from companies in the United Kingdom although tenders were sent to a range of companies based in Ireland and the United Kingdom. European Union public procurement rules do not permit product specifications — for any product or component of a product — to identify a particular brand name, supplier or country of origin. As a result of the competition, the contract to supply ration packs to the Defence Forces from January 2007 to December 2008 was awarded to Far Side Marketing, located in Buckinghamshire in the United Kingdom.

Main meals containing beef are included in 25% of all ration packs purchased annually by the Defence Forces. These meals are manufactured by a number of specialist manufacturers in the United Kingdom and Germany. In general, beef from Europe is used. However, in one consignment of pack rations delivered to the Defence Forces in early 2007, the beef-based main meals did contain beef of Brazilian origin, amounting to approximately 500 meals. In this case, the total quantity of beef was approximately 150 kg. To date, 25,000 ration packs have been purchased under the current contract, 6,000 of which contained beef, of which only 500 contained Brazilian beef. Brazil is an EU-approved third country for the purpose of importation of meat products.

The military authorities have assured me that fresh beef consumed by the Defence Forces on a daily basis is sourced in Ireland from local producers. Approximately 93,000 kg of fresh beef, valued at €450,000, is purchased annually by the Defence Forces compared to approximately 1,200 kg of beef, valued at €12,000, in ration packs.

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