Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 November 2021
744. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the status of the recent reports of avian flu on the island of Ireland; if he has spoken with his counterparts in the Northern Ireland on this issue; if he will ensure that they all work closely together on monitoring same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [57565/21]
View answerThe Deputy will be aware that, last weekend, Avian Influenza H5N1 has been identified in a turkey flock in Co Monaghan. This unfortunate turn of events has a significant direct impact on the farmer involved and has wider implications for the poultry sector generally.
Protection and surveillance zones have been put in place where there are additional controls on movement of birds and certain related products, as well as an enhanced level of surveillance. I have also, as a measure to further mitigate the risk of spread, introduced a Statutory Instrument requiring the confinement of all poultry or captive birds such that wild birds and other animals do not have access to them.
This is the high-risk period (October to April) for the introduction of Avian Influenza (AI) as a result of the migration of wild birds returning to overwinter from areas where AI is widespread. This year a Highly Pathogenic AI (HPAI) with subtype H5N1 is in circulation across Europe, the virus can spread from the wild bird population to poultry farms, through direct contact and through faeces from wild birds infected with the virus. A number of EU Member States and Great Britain have confirmed the virus in both wild birds and poultry.
Since November HPAI H5N1 has been confirmed by my Department in forty-nine wild birds in counties Kerry, Donegal, Galway, Offaly, Roscommon, Tipperary, Wexford and Waterford under its AI surveillance programme.
On 17th November, I introduced regulations under the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013, requiring flock keepers to apply particular bio-security measures for poultry and other captive birds as a precautionary measure against Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), as well as a ban on the assembly of birds.
These Regulations require specific biosecurity measures to be implemented by the keepers of all poultry (and other captive bird) flocks, irrespective of size, to help mitigate the risk of infection of their poultry from the virus and the implementation of additional enhanced biosecurity measures by flock-owners in respect of flocks of 500 birds or more.
My Department continues to closely monitor and assess the disease situation and is in regular contact with industry stakeholders.
My officials maintain close contact with their counterparts in the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland in evaluating and managing the risk of avian influenza on the island, working in a collaborative way to mitigate spread of the virus.
