Mary Harney
Question:24 Miss Harney asked the Minister for Health the progress, if any, which has been made towards establishing a food safety advisory board on a statutory basis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12125/97]
Written Answers - Food Safety Controls.
Limerick East): As the Deputy is aware, last year, the Government set up an interdepartmental group to review the system of food safety controls in Ireland. In October 1996 the Government accepted the group's principal recommendation for the establishment of a new statutory-based food safety body with executive powers.
Legislation for the establishment of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland is currently being drafted and I intend to be in a position to bring a Bill before the House prior to the summer recess. Pending enactment of this legislation the new Food Safety Authority of Ireland has been set up on an iterim, non-statutory basis. The interim board, which is chaired by Dr. Daniel O'Hare, President of Dublin City University, is charged with putting in place the structures and formulating the work programme for the new authority.This means that some of the groundwork will have been completed when the statutory body commences to operate and will allow the statutory authority to have a strong and immediate impact in the area of food safety.
The purpose of the new Food Safety Authority of Ireland 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. As part of its work, the new authority will carry out audits to assess the effectiveness of the systems operated by the various official agencies engaged in the enforcement of food safety requirements. The authority will publish reports of such audits and inspections. The authority will also subsume the role and functions of the current Food Safety Advisory Board which I established, under Order, in June 1995, and which has been a major sources of expert advice to myself and other Ministers on food safety and other food related matters.
I assure the House that this Government is strongly committed to food safety; the establishment of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland represents a radical and innovative step in the development of our food controls. Our comprehensive proposals for this new authority will give the consumer an independent and powerful body dedicated to ensuring compliance with the very best food safety and hygiene standards.