Vol. 456 No. 7
41 Mr. Shatter asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry whether is it intended to replace quarantine with pet passports for cats and dogs arriving from western European countries as has been introduced in Sweden and Norway. [12979/95]
61 Mr. Shatter asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry if his attention has been drawn to the fact that no person has died of rabies in Ireland or in any other part of the European Union since monitoring began in 1977; and whether it is intended to change our quarantine rules which are now out of date. [12980/95]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 41 and 61 together. Statistics from the World Health Organisation indicate that there were a total of 198 human rabies cases in Europe between 1977-94, of which 20 occurred in the European Union. In addition there were 8,812 confirmed cases of rabies in animals in Europe in 1994 alone of which 1,582 were in the European Union.
I have no immediate plans to relax the strict quarantine laws at present in force for the importation of pet dogs and cats into Ireland from countries other than Great Britain, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. I am, however, keeping the position under regular review in consultation with the UK authorities.
