Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 December 2012
512. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will outline projects on which his Department cooperates with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in the North. [54147/12]
View answerBoth my officials and I are directly involved in ongoing and frequent North South engagement on a range of issues. This work is undertaken in the context of advancing co-operation through the structures of the North South Ministerial Council, most recently at the agriculture sectoral meeting of the Council on 31 October 2012. Both Departments continue to enjoy excellent co-operation in a number of areas including:
- the development of an All-Island Animal Health Strategy for control of animal movements and the prevention, containment and eradication of epizootic diseases in Ireland;
- the development of an All-Island Plant Health and Research Strategy including co-operation between both jurisdictions in relation to plant protection products and
- liaison on a range of international issues including trade and the reform of the Common Agriculture Policy.
We also co-operate in other areas of common interest as specific matters arise, the most recent being issues relating to farm safety, cooperation in programmes to control and eradicate production diseases through Animal Health Ireland and its Northern counterpart, joint research projects, cross border laboratory collaboration and the outbreak of the Chalara Fraxinea disease commonly known as ash dieback.
