The Food Safety Authority is one of the most important consumer protection bodies ever established in the State. It has a crucial role in the protection of consumer interests and in the provision of information to enable the consumer make informed choices regarding food safety. For the Food Safety Authority to achieve these important tasks, it is important it is placed on a statutory basis with dedicated legislation governing its establishment, composition and operation.
During the recent past the Government parties made great play about adopting a new approach to the Food Safety Authority, but with the publication of this Bill we see those claims are baseless because it does not alter significantly the role of the Food Safety Authority as envisaged by the previous Government. One wonders why there has been such a delay in drawing up this legislation. There appears to be a touch of window dressing about it.
On a number of occasions we were promised various legislation, but to date this is the first Bill to emerge from the Department of Health and Children since the Government took office almost a year ago. After 12 months we are still awaiting important legislation, such as the promised Health (Amendment) Bill, which is intended to reorganise the health services and replace the Eastern Health Board, and the long awaited mental health Bill. Yet the Minister for Health and Children seems unable to produce that legislation. One must wonder why that is the case. Is it an indication of a lack of interest or are there problems in the Department? Why has the Department produced only one Bill given that the Government has been in office for almost a year?
This Bill is an attempt to provide a sound comprehensive legislative basis for the Food Safety Authority. The Labour Party welcomes its publication in principle. However, the Bill, as presented to the House, is flawed and fails to enshrine in legislation the consumer focused philosophy that the Food Safety Authority of Ireland needs to make a real difference to food safety standards here. The Labour Party intends to table a range of amendments to strengthen the Bill.
We want a Food Safety Authority that is relevant to ordinary shoppers in the high street and one in which consumers to have a real say in its policy and direction. The Bill fails to achieve those important goals in key areas. I hope the Minister will engage with Members on Committee Stage so that we can amend the legislation to give the Food Safety Authority the comprehensive legislation it deserves.
Food accounts for 23 per cent of household expenditure in Ireland and is the largest item in the household budget. Irish consumers spend £4 billion on food annually or, on average, in excess of £3,500 annually per household. The food industry employs directly 37,000 people and more than twice that number are employed in associated enterprises that service the industry. In addition, 150,000 farmers are engaged in food production. Food exports are vital to our economic importance and the maintenance of thousands of jobs throughout the State.
The rights of consumers and their welfare concerns must take precedence over all other aspects of the industry. In the past, particularly since the emergence of BSE and the e-coli bacteria scare, consumer concerns centre on the safety, nutritional merit, cost and ethical concerns about the methods of food production and manufacture. It is important we should have a well resourced body dedicated to addressing these concerns and undoubtedly the Food Safety Authority will fulfil that role.
The Food Safety Authority has been operating on an interim basis under the Health Corporate Bodies Act, 1961. It has been awaiting its independent statutory legislative basis for some time. However, since the merger of the Food Safety Authority and the Food Safety Advisory Board on 1 January 1998, a considerable amount of work has already been achieved. I would like to compliment the work of the authority to date, in particular, that of its chief executive, Dr. Patrick Wall. The authority has established a one stop shop on food safety and information. It has also had the energy and foresight to launch a detailed and informative website that enables citizens across the country to have access to data, information and news from it. That is important work. It makes a clear statement about the focus of the authority which is on the individual consumer. The authority requires and deserves legislation that will recognise the central role of the consumer and promote the relationship between it and the consumer, but this legislation fails to satisfactorily achieve that goal.
On the work of the authority to date, I would like the Minister to clarify his intentions regarding the accessibility of information. The one stop shop concept is critical for supplying consumers with all the relevant information they require. Quite often in this age of information overload the presentation and availability of information under one roof is the key task facing information providers. With its Dublin office and website, the Food Safety Authority is addressing this need to some extent, but there are still major problems concerning accessibility.
Use of information technology and especially hi-tech innovations, such as the Internet, is unbalanced in demographic terms. There is an information gap in society and it is important for the Government to take effective action to ensure that a new social division between the information poor and the information rich does not develop. However, the information gap is a fact of life and the Internet site alone does not provide adequate access to information on food safety to many of our population. The authority and the Minister should take steps to address this situation and serious consideration should be given to the establishment of regional mobile information units that could travel to the major towns and villages outside the capital, inform people of the authority's work and provide them with access to information.
Regarding the specific detail of the Bill, the Labour Party has serious concerns about section 14. It deals with the establishment of the consultative council which will provide consumer interests with the most direct influence on the work and ethos of the Food Safety Authority. However, as with consultative bodies everywhere, it is important to ensure that body does not become a mere talking shop and the Bill needs to be strengthened to achieve that.
Section 14 (2) states "the Council shall consist of not more than 24 members and shall be broadly based and representative". That subsection is weak and lacks definition. The consultative council should be a significant forum for consumer interests to be aired and dealt with by the authority. Given the central role that consumers must have in the FSA, the legislation should explicitly state the role of consumers in the consultative council. A serious oversight of the Bill is its failure to give statutory recognition to the role of the consumer in that body and that needs to be changed.
The consultative council will be appointed by the board in consultation with the Minister. It is important the work of the consultative council is made accessible to the general public and the Bill should include a requirement for the council to hold a minimum of its meetings in public. That would allow the general public, the consumers the authority is intended to protect, to have an insight into its workings. That would also be in keeping with a policy of open Government and administration that is sadly lacking in many aspects of public life. An amendment to the Bill requiring the consultative council to allow the public access to its deliberations, where practicable, would enhance the Bill and the public's engagement with the work of the authority.
Subsection (7) of the Bill states the "Authority may publish the opinions of the Council". That subsection undermines the independence of the consultative council and could lead to tension between the consultative council and the authority which could damage the whole process. It also reduces the amount of information available to the public on food safety and it should be changed.
A number of options are available. The authority should be under an obligation to publish all opinions of the council or the consultative council should be empowered to publish its own opinions as it sees fit, which would be the preferred option. That would lead to a more open consultative process and remove the potential for tension that exists as the Bill is currently formulated.
Other sections require amendment to ensure the vitality of the role of the consultative council. Section 48 (8) should contain a provision that would oblige the authority to furnish copies of reports received from agencies executing service contracts to the consultative council. Section 37 does not contain provision for the consultative council to require or request meetings with the chief executive. The chief executive will form a pivotal role in the Food Safety authority and it is important this legislation should define a relationship between the consultative council and the chief executive. The Bill does not provide any mechanism for this relationship to develop and this should be addressed. In spite of the Minister's comments about the various arms of the authority interlocking, there are significant weaknesses in this area.
Similarly, the Bill does not provide for any structures to facilitate information exchange between the consultative council and the scientific committee. Section 34 should contain a provision that would oblige the authority to furnish copies of reports from the scientific committee to the consultative council. The section should also provide for contact and dialogue between the chairperson of the scientific committee and the consultative council.
The Bill is vague about service contracts entered into by the authority and other agencies. I concur with many of the comments made by Deputy Bradford. I am not clear if the Minister's intention is that the authority will emerge as the main inspection body for food safety and if the current role of local authorities and health boards will diminish under the new regime instituted. I would be obliged if the Minister will clarify his intentions at an early date. Serious efforts must be made to deal with the many staff interests if there are to be significant changes in their terms of employment.
It would also be of benefit if the Minister gave an undertaking that the necessary resources needed will be provided to ensure that health boards and local authorities can adequately carry out their inspection functions when contracted to do so by the authority. The real weight and authority of the new food safety institution is closely related to the resources allocated to it. This is especially true in the case of inspection procedures and the agencies with which the authority will enter into contracts. At present the resources of health boards and local authorities are often stretched to the limit and additional resources to comply with the authorities' service contracts undoubtedly will be required. There is no point putting the onus back on the existing agencies to improve standards unless the Government is prepared to provide them with the necessary resources to do so.
These are just some of the shortcomings of the Bill. These issues will be debated more extensively on Committee Stage. The provisions for the consultative council are undoubtedly inadequate and must be strengthened to ensure public confidence and public engagement with the work of the authority.
In addition to the specifics of the Bill I will mention the task facing the authority in the coming years. The safety of the food we eat has become an important issue for every family in recent years. In the wake of the recent BSE scare we saw how ordinary families adjusted their purchasing patterns and moved away from purchasing beef in significant numbers. The recent food scare regarding a butcher's shop on the southside of Dublin also points to the seriousness of the issue.
The Food Safety Authority will have a huge task in educating consumers, retailers and producers in the proper handling and storage of food. There is still a large degree of ignorance about the basic rules governing food hygiene and safety and the authority must institute comprehensive public education programmes to tackle this information deficit. Some retail outlets have poor standards of food safety and do not appear to be aware of the manner in which microscopic bacteria are spread. It is still common to encounter food retailers who do not use gloves when handling fresh produce or who do not understand the need to wash their hands or replace their protective gloves after handling money. It is common to see butchers handling cooked or raw food and then taking money from customers. This practice needs to be outlawed completely because it is a potential health risk.
There is laxity in the handling of food in many homes and many people are unaware of the basic rules governing the storage of food. I am sure the majority of households do not know at what temperature their fridges should be set to ensure that bacteria cannot survive on food. Simple rules relating to the separation of certain foods, such as cooked and uncooked meats, are often ignored.
These practices continue because people do not have ready access to the necessary information regarding food safety. It is amazing that while a large number of people will radically change their purchasing and dietary habits due to concern over a disease, such as BSE which the statistical chances of catching are minute, the same people do not make small and simple changes that will protect them and their families from a range of infections and diseases that could easily occur in their homes or workplaces.
An information and education campaign to tackle this ongoing problem is necessary and the performance of the Food Safety Authority will be judged on its ability to ensure that the required information is provided in an accessible manner. This is why it would be of great benefit to the work of the authority if mobile information units were established on a regional basis to ensure that the maximum number of consumers encounter the work of the authority.
The authority will also have to ensure that an urgent analysis facility, operating seven days a week, is available to analyse samples urgently where there is a strong indication that there is a significant risk to public health. In the case of the butcher's shop on the southside of the city which was at the centre of a scare recently, there was undoubtedly a delay in the analysis of the sample. Where a threat to public health exists delays cannot be tolerated and a system to prioritise samples and deal with them swiftly must be introduced.
Consumers are also concerned about the issue of labelling. All food labelling should contain information regarding the source of the food and the content of the product. Added to this information, cooking and storage requirements should be clearly indicated.
I would be obliged if the Minister would indicate the Government's plans for the authority's co-operation with its counterpart in Northern Ireland. In the British-Irish Agreement, animal and plant health is one of the key areas with which the North-South strand of the agreement will deal. Has the Minister had consultations with his counterpart in Northern Ireland regarding co-operation on this important issue on both sides of the Border? How does the Minister plan to facilitate this co-operation and to enhance it during his term of office?
The Labour Party welcomes the publication of the Bill which establishes the Food Safety Authority on a statutory basis. We have concerns regarding the detail of the legislation and on Committee Stage we will table amendments intended to strengthen the role of the consultative council, improve co-operation between the consultative council, the board and the scientific committee and to improve the public involvement and engagement with the work of the authority.
The authority has made an excellent start to its operations. We wish it well in the coming months and years with the onerous task which it faces. It is a crucially important institution that has the capacity to significantly change attitudes and enforce regulations regarding food safety. These two goals are extremely important for consumers and the food industry. It is right and appropriate than an independent authority should be charged with their implementation.