Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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461. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views on a matter (details supplied) regarding supermarkets and food waste; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21940/15]

Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
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474. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will introduce a new law that would make it illegal for supermarkets to destroy edible food, in an effort to cut waste and encourage increased charitable donations (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22054/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 461 and 474 together.

Retail legislation on the lines proposed does not come within the remit of my Department.

I am a ware of the success of voluntary initiatives by organisations such as BiaFood and FoodCloud together with large retail outlets to offer edible food to charities in a safe, efficient and responsive way.  I recently visited the BiaFoodInitiative regional hub in Little Island, Cork, the first of three planned hubs, which is offering an infrastructure to accept and redistribute large volumes of surplus food to an industry standard, the latest in software technology to track and trace all product movements from the point of entry to the end user, and a strong voluntary organisation model. BiaFoodInitiative have met Tesco, who are providing equipment and some other support. The Department of Social Protection is supporting staffing of the hub and the Food Safety Authority of Ireland has provided advice on carrying out the business in a safe way in compliance with the food regulations, given that such organisations come under the definition of a food business in the general food law.  In March BiaFoodInitiative joined Bord Bia’s online Origin Green Platform , which provides access to a network of over 400 companies, who could include this as a waste reduction measure in their Origin Green action plans.

FoodCloud connects businesses that have too much food to charities in communities that have too little. Using the FoodCloud app, or the website, participating businesses can upload details of their surplus food and the time period in which the food can be collected. This automatically sends a text message to the most appropriate charities in their community. The first charity to accept the offer collects it directly from the business. By donating surplus food to various charities, businesses can assist them in reducing their food costs and therefore allow them to redirect funding to programs assisting those who are disadvantaged, creating long tangible and long lasting local benefits. Following a successful pilot programme, Tesco Ireland and FoodCloud last year announced a partnership that will see all surplus food from Tesco’s stores redistributed to charities and community groups through the use of FoodCloud’s innovative app.

There is much to be said for promoting voluntary engagement by the industry with such initiatives before consideration by Government on whether legislation is appropriate.