Food safety body is to be accountable for all control functions, says Minister

The new Food Safety Authority will not be a "regulator of regulators", as envisaged by the last government, but will be directly accountable for all food control functions, the Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children has been told.

The Minister of State for Health and Children, Dr Tom Moffat, said the new body would be taking over all current functions related to food safety, and would have full powers to trace food products from farm to table.

Briefing committee members on the outlines of a Bill to establish the authority, Dr Moffat conceded that the transfer of staff to the new body from the large number of existing agencies in the area would require detailed discussion. Meanwhile, to allow the authority - already established on an interim basis - to get up and running, functions would be carried out on a contractual basis.

Its primary role, he said, would be to "promote, encourage and foster high standards of safety and hygiene at all stages, from primary production to final sale to the customer". Education would be at least as important as policing, but if problems such as public food poisonings arose, the authority would have full powers to investigate and prosecute.

Dr Moffat said the structure would be "independent and science-based", with a board of 10, including a chairman appointed by the Minister. There would be a 15-member scientific committee as well, and a 20-member consultative council drawn from a wide range of interests, including consumers.

The establishment of the authority is to be phased but will occur as soon as possible. He said the Bill was "a major step forward in providing the reassurance that customers seek".

However, the proposals were criticised as inadequate by Labour's Ms Roisin Shortall. During questioning on the presentation, Ms Shortall said key issues concerning the employment of staff and the relationship of the authority to existing food safety agencies "seem not to have been considered at all". It was "incredible" that many of these decisions seemed to be left to the new body itself, she added.

She said the authority appeared to have no power to deal with problems arising from food sourced outside the State.

Questioned by Mr John Gormley (Green Party), Dr Moffat said the scientific committee in the interim body was already studying the question of genetic engineering.

Replying to a question from Ms Cecilia Keaveney (FF), he said there were "linkages" already with food safety agencies in Northern Ireland. "But they have only had a White Paper on food safety so far, so we're ahead of them on this."