Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

The Taoiseach says the owners of the Bunclody plant are being spoken to in an effort to get to the bottom of it. Has the Taoiseach got to the bottom of it? Does the Taoiseach or the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food know exactly what happened here? When can a statement be made setting out what caused the problem?

With regard to the return of pork products to the market, I understand discussions with the processors are ongoing. Does the Taoiseach agree that with every passing day and hour that pork products are not back on sale, consumer confidence both here and abroad is being diminished? There is an urgency about getting pork products back on the shelf not only to restore consumer confidence, but to secure the industry and people's jobs by getting things moving again. The longer this is delayed, the more damage will be done. We understand that what happened happened. There will be time to go back over what happened in Bunclody. Action had to be taken to recall the products, but I am not seeing a sense of urgency — although I do not want to be critical in this regard — about getting the product moving again. I would like to offer the Taoiseach a second opportunity to give the House an indication of when we are likely to see pork products back on the supermarket shelf.

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