Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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Question 113: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food the steps she is taking to ensure that country of origin labelling is clear and transparent to the public; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32725/06]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 115: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food if she is satisfied that all meat and meat products on sale here in supermarkets or served in hotels or restaurants are labelled adequately to indicate the country of origin with particular reference to traceability here and throughout the EU; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32905/06]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 113 and 115 together.

Regarding the labelling of beef, this is governed by comprehensive EU regulations which were introduced in 2000 and are underpinned by a full national animal identification and traceability system. These compulsory labelling regulations require all operators and organisations marketing beef within the Community to provide information on the label to enable the beef to be traced back to the animals from which it was derived and must include details on the slaughterhouse, de-boning hall and the country in which the animals were born and reared.

Regulations for the purpose of beef labelling in the restaurant and catering sectors were made by the Minister for Health and Children earlier this year, which made the provision of country of origin information on beef in these sectors mandatory. There are EU regulations which provide for the labelling of unprocessed poultry meat at retail level. The regulations require such poultry meat to be labelled with the information regarding class; price per kg; condition; registered number of slaughterhouse or cutting plant; and, where imported from a third country, an indication of country of origin. There are no specific EU regulations governing the labelling of pig meat or sheep meat beyond the general food labelling regulations which do not require country of origin information.

The primary legislation enacted by the Oireachtas in March of this year under which our beef labelling requirements on country of origin were extended to the catering sector also allows for the extension of country of origin labelling to other meats. However, because different origin labelling requirements apply to other meats in the retail sector under current EU legislation and there are also different systems of traceability as well as some import-export complexities, it is not as straightforward as it is for beef. The European Commission has opposed member states introducing legislation in this area that is in excess of common EU requirements. Nonetheless, the Department of Agriculture and Food is currently in the process of drafting new regulations to require operators in the retail and catering sectors to provide country of origin information on poultry meat, pig meat and sheep meat. It is my intention to submit these regulations, when they are finalised, to the European Commission for approval as required by EU legislation.

The preferred way forward is that the Commission would progress the question of country of origin labelling of all meat at EU level. I wrote earlier this year to the European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection on this subject. I also raised the issue at the Agriculture Council some months ago and will continue to take every opportunity to press for progress on this matter. During Commissioner Fischer Boel's visit to Ireland last month, I raised the question of country of origin labelling and the need for EU action on this subject. I was pleased with the positive response of the Commissioner to this issue and with her acceptance of the need for an EU origin logo to be put on all EU meat products.

I am glad to inform the House that the Health and Consumer Protection Directorate of the European Commission undertook a consultative process on a wide range of issues in this area earlier this year, under a document entitled Labelling: Competitiveness, Consumer Information and Better Regulation for the EU. I arranged for my Department to make a submission on food labelling, and country of origin labelling of meat in particular, to the Department of Health and Children, which co-ordinated the Irish contribution to this process. In the meantime, my Department will continue its work on the drafting of national measures.

The general EU food labelling regulations covering all food sold in Ireland require that the information be given clearly, accurately and in a language understood by the consumer. Among these requirements is origin marking in cases where failure to provide such information would be likely to mislead the consumer to a material degree. This legislation comes under the remit of the Department of Health and Children.

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland has responsibility for the enforcement of food labelling legislation. The food business operators involved are inspected on a routine basis by the environmental health officers in the Health Service Executive, operating under a service contract with the FSAI.

Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I appreciate the efforts being made in this area but much more must be done, especially in the poultry sector. In recent weeks we saw the closure of Castlemahon Foods and many other poultry businesses are under pressure. Poultry farmers are not achieving the returns of the past, partly due to an enormous increase in unjustified costs. How much longer will it be before the problems in the poultry sector are addressed? Currently no change of packaging is required to allow poultry from another country to be sold as Irish poultry. I have seen that with my own eyes and it is putting extraordinary pressure on the industry here. Is the Minister of State aware that only 45% of poultry bought on the island of Ireland is produced here? That is an indication of the seriousness of the situation.

With regard to meat, is the Minister of State aware that many restaurants are not adhering to the regulations that are supposedly in place? What steps are being taken to rectify that? While the price of meat is reasonably good at present, Brazilian producers are planning a major re-entry to the Irish market, which will have serious implications if we do not act now.

Is the Department of Agriculture and Food sending personnel to the countries where imported beef, poultry and other food products are sourced to determine their quality? The Egyptians, Iranians and others who bought meat products from us always sent their own inspectors here before buying.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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The area of food labelling was centralised in the Food Safety Authority of Ireland and enormous progress has been made since 2000 on the general labelling of meats. The Oireachtas passed legislation earlier this year to enable the Minister for Health and Children to implement the regulations governing the labelling of beef in restaurants and other catering houses.

There are 44,000 food businesses in Ireland, 29,000 of which are in the service sector. The environmental health officers, who are employees of the Health Service Executive, operate under a service contract with the Food Safety Authority of Ireland and inspect approximately two thirds of catering premises every year. Checks on compliance with the new health, country of origin of beef regulations are being incorporated into routine inspections for establishments covered by the regulations. The regulations came into effect on 3 July 2006 and the Department has asked the Food Safety Authority of Ireland to ensure they are implemented as vigorously as possible from the earliest opportunity. That programme is currently being rolled out.

On the issue of poultry meat labelling, the legislation introduced earlier this year enables the Department to extend the country of origin labelling requirements to meats other than beef. The requirements can be extended to poultry, pig and sheep meat. Currently the Department is drawing up a scheme which will be presented to the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Deputy Coughlan, by the end of this week or early next week, for her approval. That scheme will enable the Department to introduce country of origin requirements on poultry meat in the Irish catering sector.

The proposals will be submitted to the Minister for Health and Children and then to the European Commission for final approval. However, the European Commission is not generally in favour of countries devising their own labelling schemes. In that context, it would be more beneficial if we could advance the proposals we made to the European Agriculture Commissioner, with which she agreed, regarding the need for the European Union to have country of origin labelling. The Minister for Agriculture and Food and I have, at Council of Ministers meetings and other European fora, consistently emphasised the need for progress on the labelling issue, particularly as it concerns beef, poultry and sheep meat. We intend to continue to pursue the matter.

Some progress was made when the Health and Consumer Protection Directorate of the European Commission undertook a consultative process on this area recently and Ireland put a strong proposal to the Commission as part of that consultation process. We would like to see EU-wide agreement on the introduction of the type of regulations we deem necessary to protect our industry and assure consumers of the quality, safety and authenticity of the food they eat.

The primary task of the environmental health officers is to ensure safety and hygiene standards are adhered to in the catering and food sectors. The additional role given to the officers is also important and I am sure will be activated further in the near future.

Denis Naughten (Longford-Roscommon, Fine Gael)
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Why is it that 65% to 70% of restaurants are not complying with the legislation? If restaurants were purchasing Irish beef in the first instance, it would be easy for them to comply.

What extra resources were given to the Food Safety Authority of Ireland and the environmental health officers to enable them to enforce the legislation? I contend that no additional resources were given. Environmental health officers have told me that they do not see enforcement as a priority. There is no point introducing legislation if it is not enforced.

According to a report by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, in approximately one fifth of shops and supermarkets the information regarding loose and packaged beef did not adequately inform the consumer. That was the situation under previous legislation, before the new Act came into force. It is clear the legislation in place is not being enforced and resources are not being provided to prioritise such enforcement.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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The environmental health officers, who work for the HSE, are contracted by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland to carry out inspections in the food service sector. Their primary role is in the area of hygiene, safety, health and risk assessment. Implementing the new regulations is an additional duty for them. The Department of Agriculture and Food has a contract with the Food Safety Authority of Ireland to carry out the relevant inspection duties. The authority has a contract with the HSE, which carries out that work.

There has been much media coverage of the labelling of beef in restaurants and catering establishments. A recent survey indicated that 70% of restaurants were not complying with the regulations. Another survey indicated that 30% of restaurants were not complying. I am sure if Deputy Naughten applied that margin of error to last weekend's opinion poll, he would be happy, from his party's point of view.

Denis Naughten (Longford-Roscommon, Fine Gael)
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We are happy enough.

Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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The Minister of State should not get carried away.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I do not think some of the media comment on labelling we have read and heard is accurate.

Denis Naughten (Longford-Roscommon, Fine Gael)
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We are happy enough.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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Some of the comments of the establishments and well known restaurants that had not labelled their beef as Irish have stated that they consistently used quality Irish beef since they were founded, in some cases 20 or 30 years ago. It is an additional bonus for any restaurant to display a statement that it sources its beef locally, for example. The consumers demand to know the source of the food they are eating.

Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I agree with the Minister of State on that.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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It has to be a benefit and bonus to any restaurant or catering establishment to demonstrate that the food is sourced locally.

Denis Naughten (Longford-Roscommon, Fine Gael)
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Why are we not enforcing that?

Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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Tell us more about opinion polls.

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy needs to go out to more restaurants.

Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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I agree with the Minister of State in his statement that surveys and opinion polls can be grossly inaccurate. Of course, it depends on which one a person feels should be listened to most carefully.

In those surveys there were a number of high profile restaurants where people acknowledged the issue. They were interviewed on the matter, and it was not just part of the general survey. Some of them were not aware of the regulations, more were indifferent and some decided they had a better idea themselves. They had certificates and invited customers into the kitchen to view them to confirm the origin of the beef. Is there a need for another consultation or information programme to bring these people up to speed? That might be useful.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I take Deputy Upton's point. The Food Safety Authority of Ireland indicated recently that it is distributing written guidance to all caterers on how to comply with regulations. That would take account of the issues which have arisen since the regulations were brought into effect on 3 July last.

During the months since, people on all sides of this House spoke of the value of having labelling. It had to be well known in the public consciousness that these regulations had come into effect.