Mr Ned O'Keeffe, the Minister of State for Food, has criticised proposed new food safety legislation for failing to emphasise quality. He said this was as important as safety.
"The Department of Agriculture and Food must be involved in quality assurance on behalf of the State. It is not good enough to say that we have no role there," he said.
Mr O'Keeffe said the new Food Safety Authority Bill dealt almost exclusively with food safety with little mention of quality.
"As food safety rests appropriately with the Department of Health and Children, the stewardship of the quality of primary produce should naturally be the responsibility of the Office of Food, under the aegis of the Department of Agriculture and Food," he said.
Mr O'Keeffe said a nationally co-ordinated quality assurance scheme was needed to help to promote and market prime Irish food.
He said Bord Bia, the Food Board, had a set of quality protocols which it was forced to develop under pressure from foreign buyers, especially the large multiples.
"However, the current array of voluntary quality assurance schemes are not sustainable, and legislation giving State approval and monitoring is now required," he said.
"The current reality is that the existing voluntary assurance schemes lack credible accreditation because they are generally driven by the processing sector.
"The protection of the green image of Irish food cannot be solely left to industry. The leadership, co-ordination and audition of a national food quality assurance scheme should appropriately be a function of the Minister for Food," he said.
The food board and Teagasc, the agriculture and food development authority, had developed regulations for pigmeat and beef in accordance with international norms, he added.
"Teagasc is best placed to carry out the accreditation of farms using protocols agreed with the other agencies," he said.