Jimmy Harte (Labour) | Oireachtas source

Will the Leader invite the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to the House to clarify where the 11 million burgers that have been withdrawn will end up? According to a newspaper report today, the ABP Food Group does not know how the burgers will be destroyed or where they will end up. In the same report Professor Patrick Wall, a food specialist at UCD, refers to the fact that he attended a food hunger conference last week at UCD and then had to comment on a country like Ireland destroying 11 million burgers which were edible. I am sure everyone in this Chamber would have no problem with eating one of them. Obviously, we must give due recognition to the issue of food quality, but why, in a country like Ireland where people are marginalised, students are in receipt of food baskets and people cannot afford to heat their houses, are we throwing away 11 million burgers which could be used? If people have an issue with horse meat, the burgers could be exported or offered to food agencies throughout the world. It is a disgrace, in this day and age, when figures indicate that 900 million people throughout the world are hungry, that we have sent a message that we will not eat this food because of a cultural aversion to eating horse meat. If one goes to France or other European countries, one will see horse meat on the menu. The Minister should either set down a marker or do something proactive in this case and give the burgers to whoever wants to tender for them. I am sure there are many who would be quite happy to avail of this food.