Limerick East): The establishment of a new statutory based food safety board with executive powers was one of the principal recommendations of the interdepartmental group on food safety controls established by the Government last March. The Deputy will be aware this recommendation was accepted by the Government in October and the processing of the legislation is now at an advanced stage in my Department.
Because the introduction of the necessary legislation would take some time, it was decided that the new body — to be known as the Food Safety Authority of Ireland — should be immediately established on an interim non-statutory basis. On 6 November, I announced the membership of the interim board of the authority which is being chaired by Dr. Daniel O'Hare. The interim board is charged with establishing the structures and formulating the work programme for the new statutory body in order that some of the ground work will have been completed when the statutory body commences to operate.
The purpose of the new authority is to ensure that the highest standards of food safety and hygiene are observed and that the regulations and controls are properly enforced by the various State agencies. To this end, I propose that the authority will have four main functions.
To identify and, where necessary, supplement, the legally binding standards and criteria relevant to food safety and hygiene and have these published and recognised as enforceable by the authority; to carry out audits to determine the effectiveness of the food control systems operated by the official agencies with primary responsibility in the relevant area and assess the level of enforcement and compliance with these controls. The authority will publish reports of such audits and inspections; to carry out a range of other functions relating to data collection, research and coordination of services, and to subsume the role and functions of the current Food Safety Advisory Board and, as such, act as a major source of advice to myself and other Ministers on food safety and other matters relating to food.