Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)

I grew up on a pig farm and, during my student days, I worked in the Henry Denny and Sons bacon factory in Tralee. At the time, standards were so good that one could eat dinner off the factory floor. In this light, it is surprising that someone was so sloppy in the manufacture of foodstuffs as to have left us in this crisis.

When the dust settles, we must determine why the system went wrong. We must also ask hard questions about whether we overcorrected when we pulled all of the products. Instead, a partial withdrawal and a full release of the results could have been considered, as the pigmeat industry has been done untold damage. It cannot take such hits. More information on the crisis and how such crises are dealt with is necessary. The situation is not similar to the BSE scare or a salmonella infection. The contamination is not as serious as it has been made out to be. The negative response when the general public reads about it and after certain media outlets have hammed it up is out of proportion with the reality.

The source of the final product must be examined if we are to determine how the regulations were broken and how this disaster for the pigmeat industry came about. When the dust settles and after further inquiries have been made, I would appreciate additional information. I would like to say more, but time is against me. I hope the House will hear more about this matter.