Deputy Geoghegan-Quinn who was also listed for this Adjournment debate asks to be excused due to another engagement. Can I take it the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht will reply?
Adjournment Debate. - Baby Food Scare.
I thank the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht for being present. I addressed this matter to the Minister for Enterprise and Employment, particularly to the Minister of State with responsibility for consumer affairs, Deputy Rabbitte. I know the procedure concerning Adjournment debates and that the Minister present will convey what we say here.
Because of the recent BSE scare the Government set up an informal consumer council which met urgently under the chairmanship of the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte. Many people involved in it had experience of consumer matters, for example, Caroline Gill of the consumer association, William Fagan, the Director of Consumer Affairs, and various other experts. It set up a help line to give information which would allay immediate consumer concerns. I applauded the idea of setting up such a council at the time. When I spoke here on an agriculture debate I suggested it should remain as a standing committee which could be called upon, if necessary, to enter into the consumer arena again regarding food concerns.
In that context, the recent scare about baby foods has highlighted the need for an independent consumer and food inspectorate. There has been an enormous panic this week due to the baby food scare. Parents did not know where to turn for information about formula milk and about whether they should cease using some products and use others. As well as being an uneasy time for people this type of confusion is dangerous. It happens every time there is a food scare.
When scares occur the pattern is that it takes a couple of days for the full information to be revealed, in the case of the BSE scare it took even longer. Eventually a special task force was established to examine the health and consumer issues associated with the beef scare. By then people had a deep distrust. The idea of the task force was a good one but it came late.
Consumer, producer and scientific interests are represented on that task force. If we are to avoid panic every time there is a media report about a food product, a full-time independent agency must be established to examine food safety. Such a permanent agency would be on the same lines as the BSE task force in terms of composition and could become a permanent fixture as a consumer and health watch dog. An overall task force would police the food industry and provide greater levels of information to the public. I envisage that while it would be mainly reactive it should also be proactive in disseminating information.
It is not good enough that issues such as this do not register the sense of urgency they should. I have received calls from many people, mostly mothers, who are worried about what has been reported on radio and television and they genuinely do not know where to turn or what to do. While I am sure many of the scare stories are unfounded, there is some truth in what is being reported. Therefore, people must be reassured. It is difficult enough for parents to rear a young baby, often in difficult financial circumstances, without having the additional concern about what to feed it. The consumer affairs advisory group, set up by the Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise and Employment, Deputy Rabbitte, should be reconvened to deal with this important matter. It was established quickly to deal with the BSE scare and its expertise would be valuable in this equally serious matter.
I will communicate the Deputy's comments to my colleague. I thank her for the responsible manner in which she raised this issue and the restraint she exercised in presenting it. Public concerns could be amplified if it were treated in any other way.
I cannot over emphasise the need to measure one's words carefully and exercise due diligence and tact in discussing this sensitive matter. Irresponsible statements on claims for which there is no scientific, health or factual basis will inevitably give rise to a crisis where a problem does not or has not been shown to exist.
The Minister is informed that certain baby foods contain a chemical substance known as phthalates. The incorporation of this substance is not confined solely or exclusively to baby foods. The substance, I understand, is a common constituent of our atmosphere and environment. Until now there has been no suggestion or proof that the existence of this substance is in any way detrimental or represents a threat to one's health or well being.
Recent statements reported in the press refer to the comments by the chairman of the Food Safety Advisory Board to the effect that "one would need one hundred times the level of phthalates allegedly found in certain baby foods in the UK before there would be any cause for concern". The Minister has no advice, information or opinions available to him which would cause him to disagree with this statement. I take it Deputies on all sides would be in the same position.
As the Deputy is no doubt aware statutory responsibility in this matter resides with my colleague, the Minister for Health. My information is that the Department of Health has already been in contact with the Commission of the European Union within the framework of what is known as the European early alert food system. It is the Minister's intention to bring the concern expressed by the Deputy to the notice of the Minister for Health.
As the Deputy is also no doubt aware the Minister for Health has responsibility for the Food Safety Advisory Board, established by Order of the House in 1995, the functions of which are to organise and administer a service for obtaining and assessing information as regards the safety of food: to organise and administer a service for obtaining and assessing information as regards zoonotic diseases; to advise the Minister of developments in domestic and European law relating to food; to advise the Minister on matters relating to food with particular reference to nutrition; to co-ordinate scientific co-operation with other European Union member states in accordance with Council Directive 93/5/EEC, which provides for such co-operation between member states in relation to foods research; if requested by the Minister, to consider and report to him or her on arrangements to be made; to ensure that the control of food processing and handling is compatible with accepted safety standards and for the registration and inspection of premises carrying on a food business; to undertake such other tasks as are consistent with its remit which the Ministers for Agriculture, Food and Forestry and the Marine may require, and to consider and report to the Minister on such general matters in regard to food safety and nutrition as he or she may refer to the board for advice.
In this connection it is also relevant to point out that a high level interdepartmental group is currently reviewing the efficacy of the arrangements in place for the control and supervision of the food production chain with a view to strengthening public confidence in those arrangements.
It is important that people are reassured as soon as possible so that moral panic does not develop out of what might be fairly flimsily based allegations. My colleague, the Minister of State with responsibility for commerce, science and technology, does not intend to reconvene the expert advisory group on beef products which he assembled last March. However, I will convey the spirit and substance of the Deputy's remarks to my colleague.
The Dáil adjourned at 5.15 p.m. until 2.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 June 1996.