I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting for the Adjournment this important matter, that of beef from outside the EU being further processed and sold as Irish beef. I am not satisfied with this position. I have been told from several sources that many meat processors, particularly those in the pork and poultry industries, continue to import meat into Ireland, process it and pass it off as Irish. It is imperative that this issue is resolved through the introduction of tighter labelling laws during Ireland's Presidency of the EU.
A survey carried out by the Department of Agriculture and Food highlighted the fact that almost 70% of consumers wanted to know the specific country of origin of the produce they buy. This is a fair and reasonable demand. Irish consumers have a right to know if what is labelled as Irish beef was born, raised, slaughtered and processed in Ireland. If not, the consumer should be clearly aware of this before he or she makes such a purchase.
Currently, the regulations do not go far enough. Country of origin labelling should apply to all imported meat products in the retail and catering food services sector. This is currently not the position. Irish farmers are not afraid of competition from imported meat, but it is only fair to our farmers that Irish meat means Irish. Consumers should be allowed to make up their minds but to do this they need information that is honest and transparent, which currently they are not getting.
The Minister has expressed his support for regulations at EU level that beef served in the catering and restaurant sectors would have country of origin on the menu, but this needs to be extended to all meat types, namely, chicken, pork and lamb. This provision will be meaningless unless Irish consumers can be guaranteed that what they are eating is Irish and not from another country. Currently, labelling requirements do not guarantee this. The Minister is claiming that he is waiting for the EU to enact regulations, but this does not have to be the case. He recently introduced legislation to ensure that consumers buying non-packaged poultry meat are made aware of the country of origin at the point of sale. Why can the Minister not act to ensure that the country of origin appears on all meat products sold to consumers in Ireland? He must take action.
The food labelling group set up by the Minister for Agriculture and Food failed to reach agreement on a clear recommendation for country of origin beef labelling. This is simply not good enough. We need to establish a clear, single, transparent label for Irish goods. That is what Irish producers and consumers badly need.