Only one of six shortcomings which were found in food-plant monitoring by the EU Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) in 1998 has so far been addressed, a report has found.
The Labour spokeswoman on agriculture and food, Dr Mary Upton TD, said that an inspection report published in January 2004 by the FVO included a list of six issues that needed to be rectified.
These included an extension of the pesticide monitoring programme, which did not include pesticides which are frequently found in the EU.
The report also said the programme did not include pesticides which are of particular toxicological concern.
Inspections of users of plant protection products were announced in advance, making controls of the users ineffective, the report added.
It also found that there was no recognised procedure to review the authorisation of a plant protection product when a maximum residue level was changed.
No analyses of the formulation of pesticides were carried out.
Dr Upton said yesterday the safety of food for the Irish consumer was of paramount importance.
"There is no room for compromise, and standards should be set and enforced. Equally, the safety of food for export should be beyond criticism," she said.
The so-called "clean, green" image of Irish food would not be sustainable if there was any question mark over the safety of produce.
"The fact that the laboratory at Abbotstown is scheduled to move to a new location in 2005 is not good enough reason to allow standards to be ignored," Dr Upton said.