The major task of transferring responsibility for food safety enforcement from 48 agencies to the new Food Safety Authority of Ireland, and bringing all food inspections under its umbrella, has been completed.
The process, it has emerged, exposed serious shortcomings in food inspection arrangements, which are being rectified.
About 2,000 people from the different agencies are contracted to the Food Safety Authority of Ireland following the signing of a commencement order by the Minister for Health, Mr Cowen.
From now on they will operate to the same standards and have considerably strengthened powers. In particular, they will be able to withdraw deficient foods from sale and to close food outlets, including restaurants, if they believe or suspect they are responsible for food-borne illness.
The process of transferring personnel and powers has exposed "a number of deficiencies" in the food inspection service which are being addressed, according to the authority's chief executive, Dr Patrick Wall.
These include:
Ten local authorities did not have a full-time veterinary inspection service to look after implementation of regulations, particularly in abattoirs. It is being arranged that counties will share full-time vets.
Inspection of retail butchers was carried out by two separate agencies - health boards and local authorities. This has been streamlined and responsibility rests with environmental health officers in health boards.
The level of sampling and analysis of pesticides in food was found to be inadequate. Extra resources are to be allocated to the pesticide control service of the Department of Agriculture and Food to improve monitoring.
Separate laboratory facilities are to be set up to ensure food is checked for the chemical dioxin, which is persisting in the environment and linked to cancer.
The Department of the Marine and Natural Resources will be required to strengthen its food safety inspections, while health boards are to given an additional £2.2 million to enhance their inspection structures.
The 2,000 personnel include environmental health officers, veterinary inspectors, sea fishery officers and laboratory staff in semi-state, health board and local authority laboratories.
The authority will carry out its enforcement functions through "service contracts" with each agency. They continue to be employed by their respective agencies but will work to standards set out in the contracts, which will apply for 3 1/2 years with reviews at the end of each year.
"The amalgamation of food safety responsibility under one body is a very logical way to create a seamless inspection service and develop a culture of consumer protection," Dr Wall said.
While the Department of Health will retain responsibility for developing food safety legislation and policy, the Food Safety Authority is responsible for the enforcement of all food safety legislation in Ireland, noted Mr Co wen. There are 52 pieces of national and EU legislation on food safety, ranging from labelling to conditions under which animals are slaughtered for human consumption.
The service contracts were drawn up after protracted negotiations with each agency. "The objective was to ensure an effective inspection service from farm to fork with no gaps or overlaps. The contracts clarify who is accountable for inspecting all areas in the food chain," Dr Wall said.
