Agriculture Committee to discuss Animal Health Ireland’s Strategic Plan

06 February 2017

The Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine will meet tomorrow, Tuesday, 07 February at 4pm in Committee Room 1, Leinster House.

The schedule for the meeting is as follows:

(i) Animal Health Ireland Strategic Plan (2015-2017) – Priority Programmes [Representatives from Animal Health Ireland];

(ii) Management of Aquaculture Licensing [Officials from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine]

Animal Health Ireland (AHI) provides benefits to livestock producers and processors by providing the knowledge, education and coordination required to establish effective control programmes for non-regulated diseases of livestock.

Committee Chair, Pat Deering TD, said: “The Animal Health programmes for which the AHI is responsible play a key role in safeguarding Ireland’s reputation as a top-class contributor to the agri-food sector worldwide. The Strategic Plan is an ambitious one and tomorrow we will receive an update on how it is progressing and where the AHI is in terms of their targets. Following our engagement with the AHI, we will meet with Officials from the department to discuss aquaculture licensing. The Committee wish to establish how aquaculture licences are processed, and how the processes employed by the Department compare to those of international counterparts. The Committee will also seek to determine if the licensing system is operating effectively and efficiently, and if not, what measures may be taken to rectify this. “

Committee proceedings can be viewed live here.

Committee proceedings can also be viewed on the move, through the Houses of the Oireachtas Smartphone App, available for Apple and Android devices.

ENDS