Results 16,161-16,180 of 18,496 for speaker:Brendan Smith

Recall of Irish Pork and Bacon Products: Statements (9 Dec 2008)

Brendan Smith: The EPA is carrying out an investigation on the oil used in the process. It is not appropriate for me to comment at this stage until I get the full report.

Recall of Irish Pork and Bacon Products: Statements (9 Dec 2008)

Brendan Smith: Regarding Deputy McEntee's point, the Department, in conjunction with the Environmental Protection Agency, will decide which facilities will be used. It will not be me; I do not have the scientific competence to decide that. The Department's approach will be based on safety and proper facilities to be used to dispose of a product. Regarding the point made by Deputy McHugh, my Department is...

Recall of Irish Pork and Bacon Products: Statements (9 Dec 2008)

Brendan Smith: I compliment Members on their positive and constructive contributions to the debate on this important issue. I assure Deputy Creed that no member state contacted the Department or the Food Safety Authority of Ireland before Friday of last week. We issued a statement on Thursday night to indicate we had restricted farms where non-dioxin marker PCB levels had been found. It was subsequent to...

Recall of Irish Pork and Bacon Products: Statements (9 Dec 2008)

Brendan Smith: I am keen to be fair to the two spokespersons.

Recall of Irish Pork and Bacon Products: Statements (9 Dec 2008)

Brendan Smith: We issued a trade notice on Sunday night. We stated publicly that those involved in the trade could start moving produce from slaughter houses and start processing, as long as they met the requirements of our veterinary services and the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, one of which was the need to verify that the pigs they were about to slaughter, or had slaughtered, did not have any...

Recall of Irish Pork and Bacon Products: Statements (9 Dec 2008)

Brendan Smith: No. Such businesses do not receive notification.

Recall of Irish Pork and Bacon Products: Statements (9 Dec 2008)

Brendan Smith: No. The facility was due to be inspected in late November or early December of this year. It is important to make sure that the House is clear on this, as there may have been some misinformation in the public domain in this regard. In accordance with EU legislation, the Department's national feed inspection programme is part of the overall integrated annual control plan for this country....

Recall of Irish Pork and Bacon Products: Statements (9 Dec 2008)

Brendan Smith: We do. That takes place in the Backweston laboratory.

Recall of Irish Pork and Bacon Products: Statements (9 Dec 2008)

Brendan Smith: It was our sampling of a pork product that identified the source as the feed. That shows that the system——

Recall of Irish Pork and Bacon Products: Statements (9 Dec 2008)

Brendan Smith: We have to be accurate in this regard.

Recall of Irish Pork and Bacon Products: Statements (9 Dec 2008)

Brendan Smith: I want to give clarification on the last point. The information that was put in the public domain originated from the analysis, work, research and testing carried out by our authority. On Saturday the rapid alert system kicked in and all member states were alerted. However, all member states received the contents of our statement of Thursday evening. Subsequently — sometime on Friday...

Recall of Irish Pork and Bacon Products: Statements (9 Dec 2008)

Brendan Smith: I was not aware of any statement on the beef issue. We only got the results back from the FSAI just before lunchtime and we put them in the public domain right away. I believe it was very important to reassure our consumers and the people involved in the beef industry. The very strong confirmation from the Food Safety Authority of Ireland of no risk to public health from beef was very...

Recall of Irish Pork and Bacon Products: Statements (9 Dec 2008)

Brendan Smith: I agree with the Deputy on her last point. On Sunday Bord Bia started to work on a new labelling system to allow people see that it was Irish pork post the recall — if one wants to call it that — on 7 December. As I said earlier to the Deputy's colleagues, we immediately put in place a trader notice on Sunday indicating that people could resume processing and moving product, obviously...

Recall of Irish Pork and Bacon Products: Statements (9 Dec 2008)

Brendan Smith: I understand the difficulty. The Deputy's constituency colleague, the Taoiseach, and I met the processors twice.

Recall of Irish Pork and Bacon Products: Statements (9 Dec 2008)

Brendan Smith: There is also a Cavan connection with Rosderra Meats, as Deputy Ó Caoláin said.

Recall of Irish Pork and Bacon Products: Statements (9 Dec 2008)

Brendan Smith: We spoke at a very senior level to representatives of the European Commission yesterday. If a Government programme is put in place we will need to get state aid approval anyway. We outlined to the European Commission that this is an emergency that is outside the control of the particular industry. We outlined that we would naturally seek support for aid to private storage and that we would...

Recall of Irish Pork and Bacon Products: Statements (9 Dec 2008)

Brendan Smith: I disagree with Deputy Tom Hayes. We made the correct decision. It was a very difficult decision to make — it was difficult for the industry, our country and everybody involved. However, we made the correct decision and I stand over it, as does the Government. Every party representative I know who spoke on behalf of his or her party echoed that strongly on Saturday night. Earlier I...

Recall of Irish Pork and Bacon Products: Statements (9 Dec 2008)

Brendan Smith: I want to see as much Irish food as possible consumed on our island and elsewhere, but the reassuring message that goes out to our consumers about the quality of our food is very important. I heard comments from eminent scientists and medical people in the international media over the weekend, and every one of those eminent people said the Irish Government made the correct decision, although...

Recall of Irish Pork and Bacon Products: Statements (9 Dec 2008)

Brendan Smith: If Deputy Tom Hayes thinks product is coming in illegally or wrongly marked, he should talk to my office and I will be glad to pursue that matter.

Recall of Irish Pork and Bacon Products: Statements (9 Dec 2008)

Brendan Smith: I thank Deputy Johnny Brady. The plant at the centre of this has been closed since last Wednesday. We have been discussing the aid for private storage with the European Commission since yesterday. I have to talk to some of the senior people in the Commission again this evening. I got some indication, although I do not have confirmation, that some of the small processors have recommenced...