140 Dr. Upton asked the Minister for Health the progress, if any, made regarding the organisation and administration of a service for obtaining and assessing information regarding the safety of food; and the number of people in his Department engaged in this work. [6581/96]

The Food Safety Advisory Board, which I established last year for the purposes of advising me and my Department on matters relating to, inter alia, food safety, is required by its establishment order to organise and administer a service for obtaining and assessing information as regards the safety of food. I know that the board has been giving consideration to how this task should be carried out and it will be the subject of discussions between representatives of the board and officials of my Department.

Staff from the food unit of my Department deal with food safety issues as part of their areas of responsibility. In addition, a large number of staff employed by the eight health boards are also engaged on this work as part of their overall duties. While it is not, therefore, possible to give precise details of the total number of people engaged on food safety matters, I want to assure the Deputy that it will continue to be regarded as a priority.