Willie Penrose
Ceist:226 Mr. Penrose asked the Minister for Health and Children if he will require the publication of inspection reports on food outlets; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13867/00]
Written Answers. - Food Safety Authority.
In January 1999, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, FSAI, was formally established with a primary function to ensure that food produced, distributed or marketed in Ireland reaches the highest standards of food safety and hygiene reasonably attainable. In July 1999, following the commencement of Part IV of the FSAI Act, the FSAI assumed responsibility for the enforcement of all food safety legislation, responsibility for which had previously resided with a range of official agencies. Under service contracts, these agencies now act as agents of the FSAI in the enforcement of food safety legislation. The health boards, which had previously enforced food safety legislation under the European Communities (Official Control of Foodstuffs) Regulations, 1998, S.I. No. 85 of 1998, now act as agents of the FSAI using the same legal instrument.
The inspection of food outlets comprises one aspect of enforcement. There are over 10,000 food outlets in Ireland and each outlet is subject to one or more inspections per annum. Given the volume of reports which arise from this, it would be impractical to formally publish each inspection report. Instead, section 17 of the FSAI Act provides for the authority to report to the Minister for Health and Children and to other Ministers at least annually on the efficacy of the food inspection services. I consider that this provides a mechanism for the FSAI to apprise Ministers should it have concerns about inspection.
Legally, under article 20 of the regulations, as they now stand, an officer is expressly precluded from disclosing information secured during an inspection unless it is necessary to do so for the purpose of enforcing the regulations. My Department has recently reviewed the regulations and it is proposed to amend article 20 to bring it into line with European Union requirements to provide that an officer carrying out inspections will be bound by professional secrecy.