Vol. 489 No. 6
285 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if he will make a statement on the number of pesticides tested by his Department; and the initiatives, if any, he is taking with the European Union to ban 55 of the 90 pesticides, the use of which is under review by the European Commission. [8836/98]
Under the harmonised directive for the authorisation of plant protection products throughout the Community — Council Directive 91/414/EEC — the first series of 90 active substances are being reviewed by the designated competent authorities of the member states for inclusion in the list of authorised active substances under the directive. The pesticide control service of my Department is reviewing three active substances as part of this review.
To date the review of four of the 90 active substances has been completed of which one is being included in the list. The authorisations for 14 plant protection products containing the other three active substances have been revoked by my Department and are no longer on the Irish market.
