Noel Coonan (Fine Gael)

I support the call made by Senators O'Toole and John Paul Phelan for a debate on quality food production, particularly in respect of the meat sector. We need a level playing pitch. Both Senators mentioned the food industry and butchers but we should bear primary producers, namely, farmers, in mind. Farmers are being strangled by bureaucracy and there is no point in us producing quality food at their expense. If this bureaucracy continues, there will be no farmers left in the country.

I ask the Acting Leader to call on the Minister for Agriculture and Food and the EU to put a full ban on imports of South American beef. This beef is not produced to Irish standards and comes from countries which are riddled with foot and mouth disease and which have working conditions akin to slavery. Cattle in these countries are identified and tagged only 45 days before slaughter. It is a scandal that such beef is coming freely into Ireland. The Acting Leader should call on the Minister to come before the House so we can have a debate on the issue and protect Irish farmers.