Paudie Coffey (Fine Gael)

I add my voice of concern on behalf of the constituents I represent in County Waterford, where many intensive pig farmers and processing factories are located, all of which are going through a difficult time at present. I do not doubt that the Minister and his departmental officials are working as hard as possible to try to alleviate the effects of the bombshell that has hit the entire agrifood sector since last Saturday. Everyone acknowledges that Irish agrifood has been a major player on international markets. It is the threat to that which is the issue as well as the implications it has for production lines from farmers rearing pigs to processing plants to retailers and consumers. A vast and wide-ranging sector of society has been seriously affected by this crisis.

On the response to the crisis once it became known, it is worrying that we must send samples for testing to a science laboratory in York in England because we do not have a science laboratory in Ireland, even though we pride ourselves on being a leading technological country. The same occurred last year during the water crisis in Galway when tests for cryptosporidium had to be conducted in foreign lands and we waited weeks for a response. The same may be said of the cervical smear tests, which the Minister of State might think is not related but which I certainly think is. We do not have the capacity in this country to test for toxins or otherwise in the food chain. That is a disgrace and needs to be addressed urgently.

Time is of the essence in this crisis. The Minister of State has given it his full attention, as has the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Deputy Smith. We need to see pork back on shop shelves, as the Minister of State said in his closing remarks. We need to see confidence returning across the sectors, from retailers to consumers to processors to farmers. I urge the Minister of State to give them all the assistance possible, for example, through grant aid for farmers, who are innocent in this crisis, need all the help they can get, and depend on the Government, the Department or its agencies, such as Bord Bia, which has always done a good job for Ireland in promoting food exports. Bord Bia needs to be resourced well to tackle this serious crisis. We have one shot at it and we need to get it right. I urge the Minister of State to give it all the resources he can.