Ruth Conefrey Email & Phone Number

Dublin, Ireland

I am a driven professional with a strong commitment to consumer protection and food safety as well as a focus on identifying solutions. I have over 23 years’ experience of working in and with the food industry, 18 of which are in the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI). I have an in-depth understanding of the workings of both the official control system and of the food industry in Ireland; and have developed specialist knowledge which I have used to ensure the vision and mission of the FSAI is realised. I am highly organised, efficient, personable and able to deliver consistently high results in challenging and pressurised work environments. I am an effective communicator, capable of deconstructing complex topics and communicating them clearly to a wide and varied audience.

In this role, I was instrumental in the development of the FSAI’s national audit system, including the risk-based audit planning process, which was developed in line with the requirements of EU legislation. This involved management of the development of the FSAI audit universe, which maps all audits to the suite of legislation for which the FSAI has responsibility, across the regulatory five-year cycle. I then developed a risk-based system for identifying key audit priorities, which takes account of past performance, gaps over the five-year cycle, trends in enforcement / food incidents and emerging risks. The outcome of this work enables the FSAI to be assured that the system is effective and have confidence in the national audit system. The FSAI’s risk-based audit system has been favourably appraised by the EU Commission, the FDA and the FSAI’s Independent Scrutiny Committee.