On the adjournment of our meeting yesterday the committee had completed consideration of section 50. The committee also agreed that our session today would conclude at 4.30 p.m. The Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Cowen, has another engagement so the Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, Deputy Moffatt, will commence the meeting. The Minister will be here as soon as possible.
Food Safety Authority of Ireland Bill, 1998: Committee Stage (Resumed).
Amendments Nos. 93 and 94 not moved.
Section 51 agreed to.
SECTION 52.
Amendment No. 95 is in the name of the Minister. Amendments Nos. 98, 100, 101, 106 and 107 form a composite proposal. Therefore, amendments Nos. 95, 98, 100, 101, 106 and 107 may be discussed together by agreement. Is that agreed? Agreed.
I move amendment No. 95:
In page 33, subsection (1), line 41, to delete "authority" and substitute "Authority or an official agency".
Before issuing an improvement notice an authorised officer is required to consult the chief executive of the authority or his designate in the authority. However, for practical reasons of time or distance this may not always be possible, especially in an emergency where rapid action is required. Therefore, it is appropriate that the board should be able to designate an officer of appropriate rank in an official agency who will be more readily accessible at local level.
Amendment agreed to.
I move amendment No. 96:
In page 33, subsection (1), line 42, to delete "board" and substitute "Board".
The word "board" should be spelt with an initial capital letter.
Amendment agreed to.
I move amendment No. 97:
In page 33, subsection (1), line 44, to delete "officer," and substitute "officer".
The comma should be deleted after the word "officer".
Amendment agreed to.
I move amendment No. 98:
In page 33, subsection (1), line 45, after "Authority" to insert "or official agency".
Amendment agreed to.
Section 52, as amended, agreed to.
SECTION 53.
I move amendment No. 99:
In page 34, subsection (1), line 41, to delete "Where," and substitute "Where".
This is a typographical error.
Amendment agreed to.
I move amendment No. 100:
In page 34, subsection (1), line 47, after "Authority" to insert "or an official agency".
Amendment agreed to.
I move amendment No. 101:
In page 35, subsection (1), line 2, after "Authority" to insert "or official agency".
Amendment agreed to.
Amendment No. 102 is in the name of Deputy Shortall. Amendments Nos. 103, 108 and 109 are cognate and amendment No. 110 is consequential. Therefore, amendments Nos. 102, 103, 108, 109 and 110 may be discussed together by agreement. Is that agreed? Agreed.
I move amendment No. 102:
In page 36, subsection (8)(a), line 25, before "High Court" to insert "Circuit Court or".
The purpose of this amendment is to give jurisdiction to the Circuit Court so that enforcement will be made easier and speedier. The same argument applies to all of the amendments in that group.
I cannot accept these amendments. I am advised that it is not possible to allow two courts to have jurisdiction in the matter. I have chosen the High Court over the Circuit Court for the following reasons. The activity of the High Court is subject to written record and I want to allow for case law to develop in this area. I would prefer to enable a single court to build up experience in this aspect of food safety. The Circuit Court, because of its dispersed jurisdiction, is less well suited than the High Court.
I assume the Deputy proposes the use of the Circuit Court for reasons of convenience because of its local jurisdiction. I would point out that applications are made be authorised officers of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland rather than a person on whom a closure or prohibition order is served. A person who is aggrieved by a closure or prohibition order may appeal within seven days of the serving of such order to the District Court which operates at local level. There is reference to this already in page 35, line 43; page 46, line 11; and page 38, lines 19 to 36. Applications to the High Court are made at a later stage by authorised officers when a closure order is not complied with.
It is news to me that two courts cannot have jurisdiction in the matter. I defer to the Minister's knowledge.
Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.
Amendment No. 103 not moved.
I move amendment No. 104:
In page 36, subsection (9), line 40, after "public" to insert "including communicating directly with the national broadcast and print media".
The Minister might consider this amendment, given that it seeks greater clarification on section 53(9), which provides that:
The chief executive shall, in the interests of public health and consumer protection, make such arrangements as he or she considers appropriate or necessary to bring the contents of a closure order to the attention of the public.
I have asked for further clarification by the insertion of "including communicating directly with the national broadcast and print media" based on the experience of many years that the public was given minimal advice on planning application notices. It was not until regulations were introduced requiring the provision of site notices that the public became more informed about what was being proposed. I want it to be clear that the media will be informed. That will allow for necessary public confidence in the food safety authority which I hope will be restored following previous controversy in the area of food safety.
I cannot accept the amendment. I would prefer to leave to the discretion of the authority the means by which it should communicate a closure order to the public. I draw the attention of the Deputy to section 15, page 12, lines 31 to 34, which enables the authority to be asked to provide Ministers with advice on "the scope for improved systems for the communication of information to the public on the safety and hygiene of food". However, I assure the Deputy that communication to the public on food safety is of key importance to the authority and is of wider application than the conveyance of information on closure orders.
I prefer not to tie the hands of the authority and to leave it more latitude. One must think of local radio also, at present, because many of these issues may be localised. The information might be better percolated in that manner.
There is no intention to tie anybody's hands. Use of the word "including" will ensure nobody is restricted in that way. I take the bona fides of the authority and the assurances given by the Minister and hope they can be fulfilled. I will reflect on it for Report Stage.
Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.
Section 53, as amended, agreed to.
SECTION 54.
Amendment No. 105 was discussed with amendment No. 79.
I move amendment No. 105:
In page 36, subsection (1), line 42, after "processing," to insert "disposal,".
Amendment agreed to.
Amendment No. 106 has been discussed with amendment No. 95.
I move amendment No. 106:
In page 36, subsection (1), line 46, after "Authority" to insert "or an official agency".
Amendment agreed to.
Amendment No. 107 has been discussed with amendment No. 95.
I move amendment No. 107:
In page 36, subsection (1), line 50, after "Authority" to insert "or an official agency".
Amendment agreed to.
Amendments Nos. 108 to 110, inclusive, not moved.
Section 54, as amended, agreed to.
Sections 55 to 58, inclusive, agreed to.
SECTION 59.
I move amendment No. 111:
In page 40, subsection (1), line 45, after "property" to insert "subsisting".
The insertion of the word "subsisting" is for legal correctness.
Amendment agreed to.
Section 59 , as amended, agreed to.
Sections 60 to 62, inclusive, agreed to.
NEW SECTION.
I move amendment No. 112:
In page 41, before section 63, to insert the following new section:
63.-For the purposes of the Capital Gains Tax Acts (within the meaning of section 1 of the Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997), any gain accruing to the former Authority on a disposal made by virtue of section 59 shall not be a chargeable gain.".
This additional section is being inserted at the request of the Minister for Finance to ensure that any transactions by the authority will not be subject to capital gains tax.
Amendment agreed to.
Section 63, as amended, agreed to.
SECTION 64.
I move amendment No. 113:
In page 42, paragraph (b), line 7, to delete "National" and substitute "Natural".
This is a drafting amendment to correct a typographical error.
Amendment agreed to.
Section 64, as amended, agreed to.
First Schedule agreed to.
SECOND SCHEDULE.
Amendment No. 114 is in the name of the Minister. Amendments No. 116 and 117 are consequential on amendment No. 114. Amendment No. 115 is related. Amendments Nos. 114 to 117 may be taken together.
I move amendment No. 114:
In page 45, to delete lines 6 to 8, and substitute the following:
"a health board,
a local authority,".
Local authorities currently perform certain food control functions, particularly concerning abattoirs and it is important that such functions are brought within the ambit of the authority. Local authorities are defined in section 2. The Bill lists each health board by name. In light of the inclusion of "a local authority", it is proposed to insert "a health board" and delete the reference to individual boards. A health board is defined in section 2. Deputy Bradford was concerned that this should be inserted. It improves the situation as it includes something which was omitted previously relating to local authorities. Veterinarians operate at local authority, health board and Department of Agriculture and Food levels.
Amendment agreed to.
I move amendment No. 115;
I page 45, between lines 10 and 11, to insert "the Minister for the Environment and Local Government".
Amendment agreed to.
I move amendment No. 116:
In page 45, to delete lines 12 and 13.
Amendment agreed to.
I move amendment No. 117:
In page 45, to delete lines 16 to 18.
Amendment agreed to.
Amendment No. 118 in the name of Deputy Sargent has been discussed with amendment No. 9.
I move amendment No. 118:
In page 45, after line 18, to insert the following:
"Each of the following shall be consulted by the Authority as appropriate in the discharge of its functions as set out in this Act-
The Irish Organic Farmers and Growers Association Limited,
The Irish Organic Trust Limited,
The Organic Food Co-operative Society Limited,
Demeter Standards Limited.".
I do not recall amendment No. 118 being discussed. This is an important amendment as these organisations do not come under the control of the Department of Agriculture and Food and they are critical to food safety. If the Minister of State does not accept this amendment he should reflect on it with the option of coming back on Report Stage.
When responding to the Deputy's amendment on section 12, I stated that the primary role of the Food Safety Authority is to foster a food safety culture. This would embrace many of the issues in which the Deputy is interested. Given the fostering role and the voluntary nature of the schemes, we should allow for flexibility in this section. Therefore, I do not propose to accept the amendment. That was the reasoning accepted when discussing amendments Nos. 9, 10 and 118.
I withdraw the amendment but in so doing I am conscious that we need to foster a food safety culture. Part of the difficulty is that that culture is full of ambiguities and lacks definition relating to the organic movement which must contend with many claims of organic origin and natural, wholesome and healthy produce. The terminology is so loose that the culture is meaningless and must be better defined. That is why I have asked for recognition to be given to those organisations which have a responsibility to their members and the wider public to set and maintain standards. I hope we can discuss the issue on Report Stage.
Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.
Second Schedule, as amended, agreed to.
Amendment No. 119 not moved.
Title agreed to.