Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 September 2015
544. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if there is any monitoring carried out on major commercial spraying, to ensure that all regulations and standards are adhered to; if there is any monitoring in place to ensure that Round Up is not used on crops within seven days of harvesting; if any research has been carried out into the dangers of this practice; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32053/15]
View answerGlyphosate is a herbicide which is sometimes used in cereal crops at the end of the growing season to desiccate the crop, to manipulate harvest date and improve crop quality. This particular use has been approved since products containing glyphosate were first commercialised in the 1970s but only a limited proportion of the cereal crops receive such an application.
All plant protection product uses (including that of pre-harvest glyphosate) are monitored via my Department’s annual pesticide residue monitoring programme. This is a programme that is agreed in conjunction with the Food Safety Authority of Ireland and the European Commission. The programme involves the sampling of produce at distribution centres, grain assemblers, and other storage and processing premises, additionally, processed food samples are taken. These samples are analysed for up to 400 pesticides including glyphosate. The annual “Pesticides residues in Food” reports can be found on my Department's website; http://www.pcs.agriculture.gov.ie/foodsafety/
It is worth noting, that annual reports on my Department's website, show that no cereals of Irish origin breach the Maximum Residue Levels established in the EU. Furthermore, these results indicate that there is no misuse or inappropriate use of glyphosate containing products on cereals and indeed the results prove that there are no indications of misuse of any plant protection products (PPP) on Irish cereal crops and are indicative of responsible PPP use.
In addition, as part of the cross-compliance inspection regime carried out at farm level, checks are carried out to ensure that plant protection products are used by farmers in accordance with their conditions of authorisation.
