James Bannon (Fine Gael)

Will the Leader invite the Minister for Agriculture and Food to the House to debate food labelling laws? Citizens have the right to know where their food originates. Significant amounts of food are imported, for example, lamb from New Zealand, beef from South America, pork from North America and vegetables from the Middle East, and labelled as Irish produce. This is scandalous as most Irish people want to buy Irish products. The importation of food which is subsequently labelled as Irish has a big impact on our farm produce. This issue and the loopholes in our food labelling laws which allow this practice must be addressed.

I urge the Leader to arrange a debate on the issue. What happens currently is a scandal. The matter has been highlighted time and again by Fine Gael spokespersons in this House and the Dáil, but the Government has failed to act. It must change labelling laws to make the practice of labelling imported food as Irish produce illegal. Farming organisations and producers throughout the country have highlighted the issue, which is a problem in other countries also. It should be tackled at European level too.

I support the call by our Fine Gael leader to abandon next week's recess because of the large number of important issues that need to be addressed in the House. There is a backlog of debates for which Senators have called so in the interest of the people we represent we should abandon next week's recess.