To question the quality of Irish beef was always considered a grave offence - an affront to the State and a great national industry. In recent years that message was repeatedly stated or implied by the Government, and by the Department of Agriculture in particular, whenever the issue of BSE arose. Successive BSE crises had led to tiny, temporary blips in home consumption patterns, it was said. The findings of the latest The Irish Times/MRBI poll strongly suggest otherwise. Despite all the assurances, Irish consumers remain deeply concerned. At its most basic level, the poll findings point to a worrying change of purchasing patterns for the beef sector - far more than officially admitted up to now by the Government or the meat industry.
Almost two of every five people say they have reduced their consumption in the light of BSE and its human equivalent, variant CJD. It confirms what a lot of disinterested elements have been saying quietly; the economic pain as a consequence of BSE extends far beyond farmers and meat processing into the domestic retail sector. Breaking down the findings further, the State's most important industrial sector has to face up to what in all probability amounts to a dramatic shift in public attitudes to beef, most pronounced in areas of greatest population.
The drop in consumption is most prevalent in Dublin and in the ABC1 category generally; those who have traditionally spent most on beef. Moreover, the reduction is more marked in urban than rural areas and among females than males. Equally, it is greater among those age-groups with families (the groups responsible for the biggest spend in supermarkets); some 42 per cent in the 35-49 age group and 41 percent in the 50-64 age group say they have cut their consumption of beef and beef products compared to 35 per cent each in the 18-24 and 25-34 age categories.
In the wider context, a continuing failure of the Government to establish a BSE policy that is primarily consumer-orientated may be fuelling the public's unease about BSE and beef. This is notwithstanding the Republic having strict BSE controls, more rigorous than any EU member state with the possible exception of Britain. The Government has introduced a cull scheme that is doing little to reassure consumers about BSE - even if they insist it is a trade-balancing measure. It was poorly conceived, and is a crude measure - though there is a pressing need to take high risk animals out of the national herd. The reality is that the scheme does not sit well with the EU's determination to restore confidence in European beef.
The terrible irony in all of this is that Irish beef has never been safer. That is not simply the view of the Department of Agriculture, farmers and the meat industry. It is the considered verdict of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland and expert scientific opinion outside the Republic. We have been more than assiduous in introducing key BSE control measures quickly, notwithstanding the unsatisfactory arrangements for the disposal of culled animals. But only when the problem is addressed by a more targeted approach will the process of re-building consumer confidence on the home market commence.