Three biotechnology centres are to be built in Ireland at a cost of £25 million. They will carry out research in agriculture, including GM foods, under an investment programme to be implemented by Teagasc, the State's agricultural research body.
The move was announced yesterday by the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, and rep resents a strong endorsement by the Government of biotechnology and of the potential of GM foods.
But the move was condemned by Genetic Concern, the main Irish group campaigning against GM foods, which claimed the investment flew in the face of a growing consensus that the technology poses unacceptable health and environmental risks.
The investment programme comes in a week when the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, admitted for the first time that GM foods could pose a health risk and acknowledged "legitimate public concern" about their effects. With new details about the extent to which the US has pressured EU states, including the Republic, on GM foods, the Green MEP Ms Patricia McKenna said the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, had to clarify his position on GM food production in the Republic.
"It is essential that he tells us what his views are on this extremely contentious issue, and one on which Irish consumers have been kept in the dark long enough," she said.
Mr Walsh stressed the importance of biotechnology to Irish agriculture and the food industry.
To be competitive in the immediate years ahead, Ireland "must have the capacity to monitor and evaluate in tandem the agronomic performance and environmental and food safety implications of biotechnology, in particular GM crops and food products", he said.
Biotechnology, along with information and communications technology, have been identified by the Enterprise Ireland initiative, Technology Foresight, as key technologies which the Republic must embrace to sustain strong economic development. Technology Foresight's recommendations have been endorsed by the Government.
The head of a biotech research body based in Irish universities, Dr Jim Ryan of BioResearch Ireland, said the investment "reaffirms the relevance of bio technology to Ireland's future in agri-foods" and would allow the application of this technology where it is vitally required.
"Along with other initiatives, it will enable full assessments of aspects of genetic modification and help conduct research that can lead to greater consumer confidence in these products."
The centres are due to be located beside Teagasc facilities in Cos Galway, Cork and Carlow. Linkages with UCC, NUI Galway, UCD and Trinity College are being established. The intention is to employ scientists with a global reputation in gene technology.
The centres will ensure GM foods are independently and scientifically evaluated by Teagasc and other researchers, said Teagasc's chairman, Dr Tom O'Dwyer.
"Up to now, consumers regard the biotechnology debate as driven by multinationals. This new investment programme will ensure that society is provided with impartial and credible reassurance of both the benefits and risks associated with GM foods."
But a Genetic Concern spokeswoman, Ms Jo Goldsmid, asked: "How can the Government justify investing such a huge amount of taxpayers' money in a technology that has no consumer confidence? It is leading Irish farmers up the garden path.
"It is time the Government stopped burying its head in the sand and acknowledged the very real risks associated with this technology."
