Cecilia Keaveney (Fianna Fail)

I wish to raise the issues of consumables labelling and the possible need for legislation to ban the consumption of dangerous substances. Where there is evidence of breaches of safety, consumers should be made aware immediately of the companies involved. The matters I will discuss may seem disparate and there are several elements I wish to address, but they all relate to consumer safety and the labelling of products.

I refer to bottled water. Last week, several bottled water products were found to contain contaminants. Certain companies were obliged to state publicly they were not responsible for these products to protect their business, as neither the National Consumer Agency nor the Food Safety Authority of Ireland announced who was responsible for the problem. This problem comprises two elements, one of which is that the consumer has a right to know whether the products he or she buys are contaminated, especially in the case of food and drink products. There is also a problem from the business perspective. If I were involved in the bottled water industry, I would be upset because the whole industry was tarred with the same brush and no information was forthcoming regarding who was involved. I understand that if contamination is not lethal, responsible companies may be given the opportunity to deal with the situation and there are often mitigating circumstances. However, since we are discussing consumables, the problem remains.

I refer to a matter which I discussed previously, namely, the right of the consumer to know what products contain. At present most food categories contain information about the level of saturated fats and calorie, salt and sugar content. Despite this there is no labelling for alcohol products. While I recognise there are attempts to address this at European level, I believe the Government should fast track the process and bring it to the top of the agenda, especially given recent reports on the level of obesity in the country and the resulting implications for the health system, including the levels of diabetes and other diseases. It would be a very positive step to label alcohol products to ensure we know what we are drinking and so that we have the right to choose, which all consumers should have.

I refer to issues related to party pills. Senator Diarmuid Wilson raised this matter on the Adjournment some weeks ago. Since then, a television programme was broadcast revealing that 14, 16 and 17 year old children were able to buy these products in Dublin without any problem. They can do so because there is no legislation banning such drugs.

I was previously chairperson of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Arts, Sport, Tourism, Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs and during that time I visited New Zealand. The New Zealand Police and drugs agencies had a problem which surpassed all others, namely the legalised status of party pills. Since then I spoke to our honorary consul in New Zealand, Mr. Rodney Walshe, who told me that new legislation has been introduced to ban party pills. We would like to think we played a part in that change, by raising the issue with those who were in a position to make changes.

It appears it will be March 2009 before we can deal with the situation here. This is something that is proven to be a problem. We are talking about substances, the ingredients of which we are unsure, but we know they are not a positive substance for children or adults to be taking. We will have to follow the European lead in banning these substances but surely we should make a move on the issue immediately.

The programme to which I referred showed a young girl going into a shop to buy party pills. The label stated "not for human consumption" so she asked the shopkeeper if that meant one should not eat the contents, to which the shopkeeper gave some very interesting replies.

I draw the Minister of State's attention to this matter because he had responsibility for the drugs strategy in a previous Government. The term "party pills" makes these substances sound positive but they are far from so. We are approaching the Christmas season now and these pills are on the market. They will become more popular if not stymied by legislation and by the right of the authorities to deal with what is currently a legal situation but one which will become illegal in time.

I wish to express my concern about the slow reaction on the part of the Government to some issues. I understand that adequate labelling of alcohol products will be introduced shortly but we should lead the way and simply introduce a ministerial order to make it happen, if necessary. On the issue of bottled water or any other substance that may be contaminated, those responsible should be outed, those who are not involved should be protected and the consumer should be informed. My third point relates to party pills and I believe legislation banning them must be introduced by March 2009. Again, I would like to think we could fast track the process to make the currently legal situation illegal before Christmas in order to protect those who need protection.

I hope my explanation of my Adjournment matter reached the Department of Health and Children today. Otherwise, the officials would have had a difficulty in establishing exactly what I meant in my original submission.