Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Ms Mairead McGuinness, MEP, to the Chamber for this, our second address from a Member of the European Parliament. We are really glad to have this opportunity to engage with her and we found last week's engagement with Mr. Gay Mitchell, MEP, very useful. Some of what Ms McGuinness said struck a chord in terms of the procedure of passing legislation at European Parliament level, which is not understood or debated enough in the domestic sphere. She mentioned, for example, 8,000 amendments before the agriculture committee, which puts into perspective some of the differences between the European Parliament and national parliaments.

I pay tribute to the great work Ms McGuinness has been doing on agriculture and I must point out that this is my first or maiden agriculture speech. I did grow up in a farming community in rural Cork but I am not my party's agriculture spokesperson. Senator Susan O'Keeffe is our agriculture spokesperson but unfortunately she cannot be here today. She sends her apologies but has, it must be said, briefed me very thoroughly on some of the issues involved, many of which were raised by Ms McGuinness. The first and obvious one was referred to by Ms McGuinness in her speech, namely, where is the beef?, as we might say, or the burger and horse meat DNA issue. Ms McGuinness mentioned that she wrote to the European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy, which was a very important initiative on her part. Among the requests she made was that he would investigate whether the findings might indicate an EU-wide problem and not just one that is confined to Ireland. I agree that the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Coveney, has handled the situation very well and that the potential damage to or fallout for our agrifood sector has been minimised by the Government's response. I would like to know how confident Ms McGuinness is that an investigation can be instigated at EU level and that measures can be taken by the EU to address this difficulty.

On a related point, Ms McGuinness spoke very eloquently on the authenticity of food and the issue of food labelling. I was struck by something Professor Alan Reilly, the head of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, said last year in this context. While he welcomed the EU extension of mandatory country-of-origin labelling, he pointed out that it does not address the issue of processed foods, where ingredients are sourced from many countries. Neither does it address a real bugbear of mine - as a shopper and a mother who is trying to find decent, healthy food that my children will eat - which is labels like "natural", "local", "artisan", "freshly-squeezed", "hand-made" which do not have any legal definition or authority. This also frustrates me as a lawyer. Can Ms McGuinness indicate whether there is a timeframe for the introduction of better labelling? Is it possible to regulate to that extent or would that represent too much of a nanny EU state? Consumers need more information and the current labelling regime is very frustrating.

Ms McGuinness also referred to the Common Agricultural Policy, a huge issue about which she spoke very comprehensively. How confident is Ms McGuinness that fairness will prevail in the renegotiation of the CAP, especially in the context of the negotiations being steered towards the more productive or bigger farmers? Ms McGuinness spoke about the low average income of farmers but clearly, within that, there are a number of bigger farmers who are able to invest more, rent more land and so forth. Will such farmers be favoured under the renegotiated CAP? How confident can we be in Ireland that our farming will not be sacrificed to the emphasis on productivity?

A point which is very close to my own heart and which Ms McGuinness is also very passionate about is the idea of the greening of the CAP. Is the EU at risk of getting the greening aspect wrong? Is the balance right at present and are Irish farmers embracing the notion of greening sufficiently? Ms McGuinness also touched on the issue of animal welfare, about which I feel very strongly. I wonder if farmers are placing enough emphasis on animal welfare because it is something about which consumers are also becoming increasingly concerned. It is in the interests of the sector as a whole that it is much more cognisant of animal welfare issues and green issues generally.

Ms McGuinness spoke about rural development and made specific reference to the Oxford farming conference. At that conference Ms McGuinness said that across the EU, particularly in remote parts, there are genuine fears about land abandonment, village decline and a decline in the numbers of young people. That is something we hoped we had left behind in Ireland but we are seeing it reappear in debates about rural communities here. Is there a divide between urban and rural communities on this issue? Is that visible at EU level and are there steps we can take to address it?

The final point I wish to make is about public health, which relates to the issues of beef, burgers and food labelling. Ms McGuinness may be aware that last year we held public consultation hearings in the Seanad.

Senator Susan O'Keeffe was prominent in organising the hearing on cancer and, in particular, the influence of lifestyle on cancer prevention, in respect of which there is now growing awareness among the medical profession and people generally. There are so many common cancers which evidence shows can be prevented by substantial lifestyle change. Is this a matter that can be dealt with at EU level? Consideration is being given by the Seanad to how best we can reform our domestic policy on this and what health promotion measures can be adopted to address the issue. Should this be left to individual Governments or is it better also seen as an issue for address at EU level? I am interested in hearing what is being done in this regard. A particular finding of the World Health Organization links diesel engine fumes with cancer, which again is an issue that might better be tackled at EU level.

As Ms McGuinness mentioned the gentlemen's agreement, I cannot resist asking about gender balance in the European Parliament. The sense is that gender balance at EU level is better than it is in the Oireachtas, where only 15% of Members of the Dáil and 30% of Members of the Seanad are women. The gender balance in the Seanad is better. Also, there is a good gender balance among our MEPs. I know that 100% of our Labour MEPs are women, which is particularly strong. I am aware of a recent initiative in the European Parliament to increase the number of women on boards of public companies. I apologise for the number of questions with which I have bombarded Ms McGuinness. However, I am particularly interested in hearing about the next step in this regard and what further steps are proposed.

I again thank Ms McGuinness for her fascinating address. I am delighted finally to have an opportunity to speak on agriculture. I might take over from Senator O'Keeffe after this.