I move that the Bill be now read a Second Time. Since the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act, 1878, was passed nearly 80 years ago, special legislative provision has existed for the supervision and control in the interests of public health of the methods of production and distribution of milk for human consumption. It has been recognised that not only should milk when drawn from the cow be of a high standard of quality and free from disease organisms harmful to human beings but also that sufficient precautions should be taken at subsequent stages until the milk reaches the consumer to ensure that its quality will not be impaired by unhygienic methods of handling and distribution.
The Milk and Dairies Act, 1935, revised and improved the system of control of the quality of milk for liquid consumption. That Act has now been in operation for 21 years and it is a tribute to the local sanitary authorities whose onerous function it is to operate most of the provisions of the Act that the general quality of our liquid milk has greatly improved throughout those years. While the Act has been operating pretty smoothly, experience has shown that some improvements are desirable and that we should strive to make what seems good even better. This Bill is accordingly designed to amend the Milk and Dairies Act, 1935, with a view to improving the control system and also, to facilitate the operation of the system by removing some administrative difficulties.
These are two categories of producers of milk intended for liquid consumption who have not hitherto been required to conform to the standards of hygienic production laid down in the 1935 Act and the regulations made thereunder.
As regards the first category, creameries engaged in the pasteurisation of milk for the liquid trade are at present free to obtain their milk supplies for this trade from unregistered sources.
The increasing demand throughout the country for pasteurised milk is encouraging more and more creameries to enter into this business and it is only right that such creameries should now be required to obtain from registered producers that portion of their milk intake which is utilised for the liquid trade. This means that the milk so used by creameries will have to be obtained from producers whose animals are not suffering from any disease which would be liable to contaminate the milk and that the producers must conform to the requirements as to standard of cowsheds and dairies, that they must register as dairymen with their local sanitary authority and that their premises and milk supplies will be subject to inspection. As, however, isolated instances may arise from time to time of local temporary shortages of milk from registered dairymen, it is necessary to retain the power to enable such shortages to be met at short notice by creameries. In substitution, therefore, for the general exemption now being withdrawn by Section 3 of this Bill, it is proposed under Section 12 to give the Minister for Agriculture the power to exempt by declaration creamery milk suppliers in specific cases for short periods where supplies of milk are required from creameries to meet emergency shortages.
I wish to make it clear, however, that all the foregoing remarks do not relate to the ordinary farmer who supplies milk to creameries for the manufacture of butter and other milk products: they are not governed in any way by the Act of 1935 or by this Bill, the purity and freshness of their milk being subject to control by inspection on the creamery platform under the Dairy Produce Acts.
The other category of milk producers which have been exempt from the provisions of the 1935 Act are those who sell not more than two gallons per day in rural areas. The same type of exemption also exists in regard to creameries whose sales of liquid milk in rural areas do not exceed five gallons per day. These two exemptions were operated by means of the Emergency Powers (No. 95) Order, 1941, and, in the past 15 years in which that Order has been in use, have occasionally proved a boon to consumers in remote areas who could not obtain their small requirements of milk from registered sources. It is now intended to replace this Emergency Powers Order by a slightly different type of exemption as provided in Section 11 of this Bill. The new exemption will not, as heretofore, be of general application but can be given by the Minister for Agriculture after consultation with the local sanitary authority concerned, in any particular rural area where the exemption is needed to avoid hardship to consumers.
The requirements in relation to the bottling of milk for sale under special designations, such as Highest Grade Milk and Pasteurised Milk, are stringent and well known. The bottling of milk for sale under such general designations as "milk", "new milk", or "fresh milk" has not hitherto been subject to regulation for the reason that the bottling of such milk was not commonly practised. It has, however, in recent times increased to such an extent that it is now essential that sanitary authorities should be enabled to supervise effectively such activities and ensure that the dairymen involved are equipped with proper bottle-sterilising and other necessary equipment. As the process of bottling milk, unless done in accordance with strict hygienic methods, may only increase the risk of contamination, it is important that sanitary authorities should be empowered to exercise a greater measure of control over this branch of the business.
Another provision of the Bill, to which I wish to direct special attention, is that relating to milk used in hotels, restaurants, hospitals, sanatoria, schools and other similar establishments. The present law relating to the sale of milk is not specific enough to cover milk used at such premises because of the doubt whether milk consumed on such premises can legally be regarded as having been sold. Also, proprietors of such premises who have their own herds which supply the requirements of the premises are not at present obliged to have their dairies registerd and so are not bound by the various regulations designed to ensure the hygienic production of the milk.
This is now being rectified in this Bill by requiring that all milk used on those premises must be obtained from registered sources. The relevant provision of the Bill follows the lines of a similar provision which is contained in the Health Act, 1947, relating to food of any kind consumed in those establishments.
The Bill also contains a provision which will have the effect of preventing registered dairymen from supplementing their milk supplies from unregistered sources. While the need for stopping such a practice is obvious the 1935 Act did not quite achieve its object in this respect.
Another provision which I should mention is that relating to the disposal of milk obtained from animals which have been found suffering from disease. The Act of 1935 already contains the essential provision enabling the sale of such milk to be prevented, but the specific reference in the Act to "sale" did not go far enough. It is now proposed to empower veterinary inspectors of sanitary authorities not only to prohibit the sale of milk from a diseased cow but also to direct the manner in which the milk should be disposed of.
The experience gained in the working of the 1935 Act has revealed that one of its provisions, which at the outset seemed to be quite desirable, has operated unduly harshly on some dairymen. This is the requirement under which it is obligatory on a sanitary authority to cancel a dairy-man's registration, thereby putting him out of business, if he is convicted in any five-year period of three offences under the Act and the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts. For example, where a shopkeeper is convicted of the offence of selling milk deficient in its fat or milk solids content, even though it has not been proved that the deficiency was due to adulteration, the sanitary authority has no option but to cancel the shopkeeper's registration as a dairyman following three such convictions within five years. It is now proposed to remove this provision of the 1935 Act but to retain the very necessary provision of that Act which gives discretion to the sanitary authority, provided that the consent of the Minister for Agriculture is obtained, to cancel the registration of a dairyman convicted under the Acts mentioned. I may say that the latter power is rarely exercised and only in cases where it is fully established that it is in the interests of the public to do so.
Another important matter covered in the Bill is the proposal to incorporate in permanent legislation, with some modifications, the provisions at present contained in the Emergency Powers (No. 145) Order, 1952. That Order was made for the purpose of meeting the situation which arose out of the occasional inadequacy of the supply of milk to the Dublin area from registered sources. The Order provides for the grant of special temporary licences to creameries not in possession of the type of pasteurising plant normally required under the Milk and Dairies (Special Designations) Regulations, 1938, so as to permit such a creamery to supply pasteurised milk to Dublin. Experience has shown that it is essential that the powers contained in this Emergency Powers Order should be retained and incorporated in permanent legislation so as to ensure that the supply of milk to Dublin can be supplemented, when necessary, at short notice.
For example, in the year 1955, it was found necessary to utilise the provisions of the Order on nine occasions. Although no need presented itself for such special licences this year, it cannot be assumed that the facility will not again be needed in the future. As it may also happen that temporary shortages of milk may arise in areas outside Dublin which cannot conveniently be met at short notice from registered sources, it is only prudent in order to enable those shortages to be met by creameries, that the Minister for Agriculture should be empowered to grant temporary licences for areas outside Dublin.
All the other provisions of the Bill are in the nature of relatively minor amendments of the provisions of the 1935 Act which experience has revealed as necessary for the efficient administration of the Act.
In these days of advancement in the field of hygiene and public health, the problem of ensuring as far as is humanly possible a supply of wholesome milk is particuarly worthy of our most careful attention and it is, therefore, with a view to strengthening some weak links in our chain of armour against the spread of disease through contaminated milk that I place this measure before the House for its consideration.