The agreement I jointly signed with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on 8 March 1999 provides for the establishment of six North-South implementation bodies, including a food safety promotion board. The North-South bodies will be formally established at the time of the entry into force of the British-Irish Agreement.
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland Act, 1988, No. 29 of 1998, was enacted on 8 July 1998 and its provisions allow for the transfer of responsibility for all existing food control services to the Food Safety Authority of Ireland. This authority was officially established on 1 January 1999.
It is proposed to transfer the following functions from the Food Safety Authority of Ireland to the new food safety promotion board: promotion of food safety; research into food safety; communication of food alerts; surveillance of food-borne diseases; promotion of scientific co-operation and linkages between laboratories, and developing cost-effective facilities for specialised laboratory testing.
I am assured by my colleague, the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Cowen, who has ministerial responsibility in this area, that there is no vacuum in the exercise of the above functions while we await the coming into force of the British-Irish Agreement. These functions remain within the remit of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland until such time as the food safety promotion board is formally established.
