Pat O'Neill (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State and congratulate him on his recent appointment. I look forward to meeting him next Saturday night in Nowlan Park, Kilkenny for the real all-Ireland final.

I thank the Cathaoirleach for allocating me time to speak on the Bill. I compliment Senator Feargal Quinn on bringing it before the House. It addresses some important legislative points on the origins and labelling of food, but in places it seems to pre-empt or even clash with legislation currently being discussed at EU level such as Regulation No. 1169/2011, as pointed out by the Minister of State, which should be in place by next year. The Bill has its background in the recent and well publicised horsemeat scandal which was dealt with very well by the Government, in particular by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Simon Coveney. It claims that the scandal exposed a number of shortcomings regarding the provenance of food we consume. While the origins of the meat in question were certainly a factor in the scandal, at its core was the most serious case of food fraud the European Union had experienced in its history. Someone, somewhere, seems to have profited from illegally labelling horsemeat as beef and selling the lie, not just to the Irish people but also across Europe. While knowing the place of origin of the food in question may have aided the current investigation in its infant stages, it would not have prevented these criminals from blatantly lying to consumers about what they were eating. This was the first country to introduce DNA testing for food products and this was how the horsemeat scandal was exposed. A problem that started in Ireland turned out to be a European and a worldwide problem. Every country has since followed our lead and introduced DNA testing for food.

There does not seem to be an exact costing for the labelling included in this legislation. However, these measures would be costly. The labels would require research by producers into the origins of a multitude of ingredients and confirmation and compliance by the State. We can also safely assume that the extra packaging required to comply with the legislation, as well as the obvious time and effort required to effect it, would increase the price of these goods. That money would have to come from somewhere. The people of Ireland would be hit with the added cost, as companies would pass the added cost of this packaging to consumers, while the State would require extra tax revenue from the people to fund its investigative work. With these increases in mind, we should consider the effect of such a cost increase on consumers should the cost be passed onto them, while our international competitiveness might also suffer as a result.

Members are aware of the reliance of this country on its exports, particularly those from the agrifood sector. What would happen to these exports if they were to become more expensive? A product can only stand on its superior quality to a given extent before customers begin factoring in cost. When foreign markets begin to take account of superior Irish products becoming much more expensive just in order that they know from what farm they came, of course there would be a drop in demand for these products. Our export-led recovery could quickly be jeopardised for the sake of providing a little extra information. That is not to say consumers should not know from where food comes. Every consumer has a right to know what he or she is eating and from where it came. However, what can be difficult to ascertain is the point at which to draw the line on these issues. A pack of butter traced back to a cow in a field in County Kilkenny might be flavoured with some salt from the Middle East, which itself must be traced to whatever Iraqi salt flats it came from. The same requirements would need to be met for a wrapped toffee with Irish milk and Brazilian sugar. Before we know it, the nanny state would take over and this would begin to cost more than it was worth. We should trust in the quality of the food currently produced in this country and rely on its status as some of the best products in the world. We should rely for the moment on the standards, checks and balances already in place in Ireland and we should stand on the national and international reputation of the quality of our food sector.

As previous speakers have pointed out, with a few changes the Bill could only be for the benefit of consumers, producers and retailers, as it would ease the mind and provide confidence in the food products they were buying. The primary producers, namely, the farmers, have been used to inspections and legislation in recent years and have helped to build our worldwide reputation as the safest food producer in the world. Any meat bought can be traced back to the original animal and even the generations before it.

There is no doubt that we need proper labelling, but the country cannot go on a solo run. We need all 28 countries in the European Union to be governed by the same legislation in order that the consumer can have full confidence in the food products he or she is purchasing. All our retailers and purchasers have different standards in the labelling of food and they need to be standardised. We have labels with the words "product of Ireland" or "produced in Ireland", as well as the Irish tricolour on some products, all of which is confusing as it means that in some cases imported food products, if repackaged or reconfigured in Ireland, can carry these labels.

I thank Senator Feargal Quinn for bringing the Bill before and the Minister of State for his attention. I hope the Senator will wait for the EU directives and legislation before he brings the Bill to Committee Stage in the House.