Seanad debates

Wednesday, 3 December 2008

7:00 pm

Photo of Cecilia KeaveneyCecilia Keaveney (Fianna Fail)
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I wish to raise the issues of consumables labelling and the possible need for legislation to ban the consumption of dangerous substances. Where there is evidence of breaches of safety, consumers should be made aware immediately of the companies involved. The matters I will discuss may seem disparate and there are several elements I wish to address, but they all relate to consumer safety and the labelling of products.

I refer to bottled water. Last week, several bottled water products were found to contain contaminants. Certain companies were obliged to state publicly they were not responsible for these products to protect their business, as neither the National Consumer Agency nor the Food Safety Authority of Ireland announced who was responsible for the problem. This problem comprises two elements, one of which is that the consumer has a right to know whether the products he or she buys are contaminated, especially in the case of food and drink products. There is also a problem from the business perspective. If I were involved in the bottled water industry, I would be upset because the whole industry was tarred with the same brush and no information was forthcoming regarding who was involved. I understand that if contamination is not lethal, responsible companies may be given the opportunity to deal with the situation and there are often mitigating circumstances. However, since we are discussing consumables, the problem remains.

I refer to a matter which I discussed previously, namely, the right of the consumer to know what products contain. At present most food categories contain information about the level of saturated fats and calorie, salt and sugar content. Despite this there is no labelling for alcohol products. While I recognise there are attempts to address this at European level, I believe the Government should fast track the process and bring it to the top of the agenda, especially given recent reports on the level of obesity in the country and the resulting implications for the health system, including the levels of diabetes and other diseases. It would be a very positive step to label alcohol products to ensure we know what we are drinking and so that we have the right to choose, which all consumers should have.

I refer to issues related to party pills. Senator Diarmuid Wilson raised this matter on the Adjournment some weeks ago. Since then, a television programme was broadcast revealing that 14, 16 and 17 year old children were able to buy these products in Dublin without any problem. They can do so because there is no legislation banning such drugs.

I was previously chairperson of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Arts, Sport, Tourism, Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs and during that time I visited New Zealand. The New Zealand Police and drugs agencies had a problem which surpassed all others, namely the legalised status of party pills. Since then I spoke to our honorary consul in New Zealand, Mr. Rodney Walshe, who told me that new legislation has been introduced to ban party pills. We would like to think we played a part in that change, by raising the issue with those who were in a position to make changes.

It appears it will be March 2009 before we can deal with the situation here. This is something that is proven to be a problem. We are talking about substances, the ingredients of which we are unsure, but we know they are not a positive substance for children or adults to be taking. We will have to follow the European lead in banning these substances but surely we should make a move on the issue immediately.

The programme to which I referred showed a young girl going into a shop to buy party pills. The label stated "not for human consumption" so she asked the shopkeeper if that meant one should not eat the contents, to which the shopkeeper gave some very interesting replies.

I draw the Minister of State's attention to this matter because he had responsibility for the drugs strategy in a previous Government. The term "party pills" makes these substances sound positive but they are far from so. We are approaching the Christmas season now and these pills are on the market. They will become more popular if not stymied by legislation and by the right of the authorities to deal with what is currently a legal situation but one which will become illegal in time.

I wish to express my concern about the slow reaction on the part of the Government to some issues. I understand that adequate labelling of alcohol products will be introduced shortly but we should lead the way and simply introduce a ministerial order to make it happen, if necessary. On the issue of bottled water or any other substance that may be contaminated, those responsible should be outed, those who are not involved should be protected and the consumer should be informed. My third point relates to party pills and I believe legislation banning them must be introduced by March 2009. Again, I would like to think we could fast track the process to make the currently legal situation illegal before Christmas in order to protect those who need protection.

I hope my explanation of my Adjournment matter reached the Department of Health and Children today. Otherwise, the officials would have had a difficulty in establishing exactly what I meant in my original submission.

Photo of Noel AhernNoel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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I am taking this Adjournment matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Mary Harney. I thank Senator Keaveney for raising these matters as it provides me with an opportunity to outline to the Seanad the measures in place in regard to both food safety, in terms of bottled water, and dangerous substances, in terms of party pills.

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland, FSAI, is an independent statutory body charged with the implementation of food safety legislation in Ireland. Its principal function is to ensure that food consumed, produced, distributed or marketed in the State meets the highest standards of food safety and hygiene. In particular it must ensure that food business operators comply with food legislation and, where appropriate, with standards or codes of good practice.

The FSAI is responsible for the enforcement of all food safety legislation in Ireland. It carries out its enforcement functions through service contracts with official agencies, such as the HSE. These contracts outline an agreed level and standard of food safety controls that the agencies must perform as agents of the authority. A further safeguard to public health is provided by European General Food Law (Regulation 178/2002) which places a clear responsibility on food business operators to place safe food on the market.

Where the FSAI considers that a food may be unsafe, it conducts a risk assessment of the product. The result of this assessment determines the action to be taken by the FSAI. Where the FSAI considers that the foodstuff poses a serious risk to public health, it must inform the general public of the nature of the risk to health, identifying to the fullest extent possible the foodstuff, the risk it may present and the measures which are taken, or about to be taken, to deal with the risk. This action is provided for in legislation and is achieved through a number of mechanisms including the national food alert system, FSAI press releases and the publication of enforcement orders under the Food Safety Authority of Ireland Act 1998.

Improvement, closure and prohibition orders are brought to the attention of the public in the interest of public health and consumer protection. Such orders are available on the FSAI's website and are also publicised through monthly press releases.

The Minister understands from the FSAI that its report on microbiological safety and quality of bottled waters will be published in the next few days. This report is a summary report of historic enforcement activity and sampling on the ground in 2007. The FSAI informed the Department of Health and Children that where any unsatisfactory results were identified during this survey, appropriate follow-up action was taken. This action included the withdrawal of a number of bottled waters from the market by food business operators.

Where there is a serious threat to public health, the details are made public immediately. In this case, however, as the FSAI and HSE considered there was no risk to public health, they did not consider it necessary to make their findings public. The FSAI has confirmed that consumers should not be concerned about the quality and safety of bottled water on the market today.

The Minister is aware that a range of substances often referred to by the generic term "legal highs", which mimic or cause effects similar to illicit substances, are available in so-called "head shops" and are currently not scheduled under misuse of drugs legislation. These substances include herbal pills and party pills.

The Misuse of Drugs Act 1977 and regulations made thereunder regulate and control the import, export, production, supply and possession of a range of named narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances listed in the Schedules to the Act. Substances are scheduled under the Act in accordance with Ireland's obligations under international conventions and, where there is evidence that the substances are causing significant harm to public health in Ireland, which could merit the criminalisation of their sale and use.

The list of scheduled substances is kept under review on an ongoing basis. In particular, the Department of Health and Children reviews any evidence that substances are being abused and are causing significant harm to public health. For example, in 2006 psychotropic or magic mushrooms, which were on sale in head shops, were brought under control and their possession and sale is now an offence. I recall that particular debate and campaign as I had responsibility for the drugs strategy at the time. Furthermore, following the European Council of Ministers' decision in March 2008 to bring Benzylpiperazine, BZP, under control, which was deemed to pose an excessive risk as a party pill, the Department of Health and Children will introduce regulations to make the possession and sale of BZP illegal. The Minister expects that the legislation necessary to introduce control measures will be in place before the deadline of March 2009.

Photo of Cecilia KeaveneyCecilia Keaveney (Fianna Fail)
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The Minister of State has previous experience in this area, although I accept he is dealing with this Adjournment matter on behalf of the Department of Health and Children and therefore, cannot make any definite commitments now. I am somewhat confused by the reply given. One sentence refers to the introduction of regulations, while the following one refers to the introduction of legislation. Is a ministerial order different from a regulation and does a regulation have to be based on legislation? If we have the intention of making this substance illegal on the basis of the decision of the Council of Ministers in March, why should people be exposed to it from now until next March? If the provision needs to be embedded in deeper legislation, could the Minister introduce a ministerial order to achieve an interim solution? I apologise for not knowing the difference between ministerial orders, regulations and legislation, but the latter two terms were included in two sentences of the Minister of State's reply and I thought there might have been a difference between one and the other.

Photo of Noel AhernNoel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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I do not know and since I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Health and Children, I will not pronounce on it. However, it may be that the phrase I mentioned at the end of my reply referred to secondary legislation. I am not sure. Certainly magic mushrooms were banned not through primary legislation but by a ministerial order. However, the process to achieve this took some time to complete. It was not just a case of drawing up an order and implementing it. It was dependent on whether the substance was mentioned in the Schedule to the relevant Act and a lengthy procedure had to be followed before it could be done.

Photo of Cecilia KeaveneyCecilia Keaveney (Fianna Fail)
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I would like an explanation, if possible.

Photo of Noel AhernNoel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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I accept what the Senator says in that it is often difficult to understand why things take so much time. I referred to legislation but agree that the last time such action was taken it was not through a Bill. However, since then there has been a tightening on the use of secondary legislation. I am not sure, therefore, what is intended in this regard.

Photo of Cecilia KeaveneyCecilia Keaveney (Fianna Fail)
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The Minister would have full cross-party support in both Houses in this regard. I would appreciate it if the Minister of State conveyed this to the Department.

Photo of Noel AhernNoel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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I will do so. However, I recall that when magic mushrooms were banned, the process still took several months to complete. It is a long procedure and not as simple as we might all like to think it is. I will convey the Senator's comments to the Department.