Vol. 488 No. 2
36 Mr. Penrose asked the Minister for Health and Children when the food safety authority will be established; the role of this authority and the consideration, if any, he has given to the makeup of the authority; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23321/97]
The Government has decided to bring forward a Bill setting up the food safety authority of Ireland to honour the commitment given in An Action Programme for the Millennium. The authority will be independent and science based and will take over the functions relating to food safety currently discharged by other state agencies and Government Departments. The Minister for Health and Children outlined the proposed contents of the Bill to the Government before the end of last year and it is his intention to introduce it to the Oireachtas during the current session.
Responsibility for food safety is currently divided among several Government Departments and agencies and is carried out by a wide range of disciplines. Detailed consultation with the staff representatives concerned will be required before transfers to the new body can be effected. An inter-departmental committee has been established to co-ordinate the transfer of the relevant functions to the FSAI and this committee has already met on a number of occasions. In the meantime to ensure continuity of the best possible service to the consumer, I have established the FSAI on an interim basis by way of Statutory Instrument under the Health (Corporate Bodies) Act, 1961. The membership of the interim authority is included in the following table:
Board of the Food and Safety Authority of Ireland
|
Prof. Daniel O'Hare (Chairman) |
President, Dublin City University |
|
Prof. Cecily Kelleher |
Professor of Health Promotion, University College, Galway |
|
James Kennedy |
Managing Director, Bausch and Lomb, Waterford |
|
Prof. Michael Gibney |
Dept. of Clinical Medicine, Trinity College, Dublin |
|
Caroline Gill |
Director, Consumers Association of Ireland |
|
Prof. John Hannan |
Former Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University College, Dublin |
|
Darina Allen |
Television Presenter and Food Writer |
|
William Fagan |
Director, Office of Consumer Affairs |
|
Ann Scanlon |
President, Irish Veterinary Union |
