Members Present
- Martin Cormican (Chair) (MC)
- Alan Kelly (AK)
- Andrew Flanagan (AF)
- Ann Marie Part (AMP)
- Anne Molloy (AM)
- Dagmar Stengel (DS)
- Dolores O’Riordan (DOR)
- Geraldine Duffy (GD)
- Ita Kinahan (IK)
- Kevin Cashman (KC)
- Lois O’Connor (LOC)
- Mark Fenelon (MF)
- Montserrat Gutierrez (MG)
- Séamus Fanning (SF)
FSAI Staff Present
- Pat O’Mahony (POM)
- Karl McDonald (KMcD)
- Mary Flynn (MFl)
- Niamh Clarke (NC)
- Rob Phillips (RP)
- Judith Giles (JG)
Apologies
- Wayne Anderson (WA)
- Lisa O’Connor (LiOC)
- Micheál O’Mahony (MOM)
1. Disclosures of Interest
The Chair welcomed the members. There were no disclosures of interest.
2. Agree the Meeting Minutes of 9 December and Matters Arising
The draft minutes were agreed. MC advised that outstanding action for him of correspondence regarding the dioxin opinion was in progress.
3. Update from PHN Subcommittee
Scientific Recommendations for FBDG for Adolescents
The Chair thanked the team for the quick turnaround on the report. KC noted the changes made to the Executive Summary and Section 7 Recommendations, and the new section on societal context added in, to address the feedback received. There was no further substantive feedback from the committee, though some minor suggestions for edits were received. The Chair noted that the report is now framed better, and the report was agreed in principle by the committee subject to the final edits being made. The final version will be circulated electronically the third week in January with a period of one week to be given for reflection, after which it can be considered adopted.
Actions:
- Team to finalise the report for circulation in January.
4. Update from Chemical Safety Subcommittee
Mitigation Measures for Dioxins & PCBs in Terrestrial Farm Animals with Access to Outdoor Pastures
The Chair noted that this draft report is for discussion only at this meeting. AF explained that the Executive Summary outlines the answers to the questions in the request for advice and the main body of the draft report provides relevant supporting information. There were a lot of comments received from the members and KMcD and AF will go through all of these after the meeting. Some of the comments were discussed and the following was noted:
- The request for advice arose from some previous incidents of contamination that occurred. The report should empasise more that there are different routes of contamination for animals such as from pastures and feed. Feed is subject to specific controls, and the focus of this report is the risk related to outdoor pastures and grazing which is not amenable to the same kinds of controls. The draft report should be reviewed to ensure it is balanced in this regard.
- Clarity was provided that the report refers to maintaining Irelands historically low levels of dioxins and PCBs in food.
- Consideration be given to moving the contextual information in the Animal Husbandry section to come before mitigation measures.
- Much of the text on historical contamination incidents could go in an appendix.
- Potential options to be considered for managing risk are outlined in the section on Mitigations.
- Data on reducing dioxins across Europe was noted.
- The use of biosolids on land is increasing. There was discussion on how to frame options on mitigation of associated risk – emphasis on using only biosolids from reliable or controlled sources may be the way to frame it.
- The FSAI Land-spreading report from 2008 does not specifically address risks associated with dioxins.
- Consider moving much of the material on Providing Advice and Supports to an appendix.
- Consider more information on the existing dioxin monitoring systems such as the EPA milk surveys.
- Distinguish clearly between the risk management options and evidence from previous studies.
- The potential impact of emissions of dioxins from other countries was discussed. There is no substantial evidence that dioxins and PCBs are being transported long distances in the air and being deposited in Ireland.
The Chair noted the progress that has been made since the committee last saw the draft report. KMcD and AF will work on the feedback and circulate a revised final draft to the committee with a view to adoption in January.
Actions:
- KMcD/AF to finalise the report for circulation in January.
5. AOB
There was no further business discussed.
6. Date of Next Meeting
The next meeting is on 19 January.
The Chair thanked everyone and wished them a Happy Christmas.