Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

People will have a copy of my speech, all of which I will not be able to read out in four minutes. I will go as far as I can.

As the House is aware, the results of laboratory tests provided to my Department by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland on 14 January 2013 revealed the presence of non-beef DNA in some beef products. This generally involved trace or minute amounts of porcine or equine DNA with the exception of one burger product which had a high level of equine DNA. My Department works under a service contract to the Food Safety Authority of Ireland on food safety matters and, as has been the case in previous instances, both bodies are working together to address this matter. The authority and Department operate as part of a coherent, multi-layered control system designed to ensure the highest standards of food safety. The authority and Department work closely to ensure the safety of Irish food in accordance with strict EU and national regulatory requirements. The system is completely transparent. We identify and respond wherever a problem is detected. It is important to note that this is the system which identified the problem which demonstrates that it is working. While the problem is not one of food safety as such, it was identified by our systems.

I stress that it is national policy on food safety that consumer protection takes priority and that concerns for public health or confidence in food products are brought promptly to public attention. It is for this reason that the Food Safety Authority of Ireland published the results yesterday. While the authority has provided assurances that no food safety issues arise in this instance, there are clearly issues to be addressed in respect of confidence in the quality of the products concerned. Those issues are now being addressed in the full investigation which I have initiated. Experience has taught us that openness, transparency and early action are vital to maintaining consumer confidence in these cases and those have been the underlying principles in the instant case.

On receipt of the laboratory results from the Food Safety Authority of Ireland last Monday afternoon and notwithstanding that it said there was no food safety issue involved, my Department commenced a full-scale investigation. The priority is to ensure that the source of the ingredients which gave rise to this problem is found quickly and remedial action taken. That is critical to ensuring there is no question mark over the quality of beef products from Ireland given our collective obligation to ensure the integrity of the food production chain. The investigation is focusing on the individual ingredients used in the manufacture of the affected batch. A number of these individual ingredients were imported into the State. There is no evidence from the investigation so far to show that the manufacturer knowingly imported equine meat to use in the production of these burgers and further investigations and DNA testing of product manufactured yesterday will bring clarity to this preliminary conclusion within 48 hours of tests being carried out.

There has been some comment on the sequence of events and I wish to set the record straight. The first samples were taken by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland as part of one of its snapshot surveys at retail level in early to mid-November. Those samples were sent for analysis to a private laboratory. In December, the authority took further samples at retail level and again had them analysed in a private laboratory in Ireland. Following this process, the initial samples which tested positive were sent for analysis in late December to a laboratory in Germany to confirm the accuracy of the initial tests. Obviously, there was concern about the results. Separately, my Department was requested by the authority on 21 December 2012 to take samples of ingredients at the two processing plants of concern. The results from the German laboratory were received by the authority last Friday, 11 January 2013, and my Department was informed on Monday last. A meeting took place between my Department and the authority on the same day at which the results were presented and their implications evaluated and discussed. My Department set in train a full-scale investigation. Subsequently, the authority met representatives of the food processors and retailers concerned and published the results of the tests.

I turn to the market response. The companies involved have carried out their own urgent investigation and withdrawn product from the market. In the case of Silvercrest, that amounts to some 10 million burgers. It is a significant response and an appropriate one. Retailers have also voluntarily withdrawn affected product from their shelves. While it is too early to assess the impact, if any, on food exports, I am disappointed with this development, particularly when the industry has been performing so strongly to reach record export levels in 2012. The industry's success is based on robust relationships with premium customers which have been built up over an extended period and are capable of withstanding challenges. My aim is to ensure that everything possible is done to restore consumer confidence. I have asked Bord Bia to work with the industry to explain the facts to international markets. We have a reputation for dealing openly and quickly with all food related issues once identified which will stand to us internationally.

Primary responsibility for the safety and quality of food placed on the market lies with food business operators who must implement food safety management systems based on HACCP principles. This is subject to a series of official controls which are applied vigorously at different stages in the food supply chain to verify compliance by businesses with food safety management systems. My Department has a permanent veterinary presence at all export-approved slaughtering plants. Controls at stand-alone processing plants are based on audits and inspections which are carried out by my Department's staff based on risk assessment.

In accordance with the official risk assessment, the plant in question was subject to monthly inspections in 2012 and my Department carried out a full inspection last December.

Under the Department's national residue programme, some 30,000 samples taken at farm and factory level and covering a wide range of foodstuffs are tested annually. These tests normally relate to microbiological and chemical standards focused on food safety and in accordance with EU testing requirements. DNA testing is not required under EU legislation and is not generally in use in respect of food production and safety. It has, however, been deployed in recent times as part of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland's food fraud control activities and these results arose as a result of that control programme.

The investigation arising from the DNA findings is continuing and the Department and Food Safety Authority of Ireland, FSAI, will incorporate the results when found to ensure that we maintain the highest food safety and quality standards within the Irish food production system. As the investigation reaches finality I will, of course, come back to this House and update it on the details concerned.

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