Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 30 Jun 1994

Vol. 444 No. 7

Written Answers. - Diseased Shellfish Seed Imports.

Austin Deasy

Ceist:

74 Mr. Deasy asked the Minister for the Marine if his attention has been drawn to the fact that diseased shellfish seed has been imported from France over a period of time; and the reasons no action has been taken to stop this practice and thereby protect the future of the shellfish industry.

Minister for the Marine (Mr. Andrews)

Since 1993 a limited number of consignments of oysters have been imported from France by some Irish shellfish farmers for ongrowing at Irish sites. These importations have been legally permissable since 1 January 1993 when the Single Market meant that longstanding barriers to trade in live fish and shellfish were removed.

All the consignments imported to date have been certified by the French authorities as free of the major shellfish diseases, in accordance with the relevant EU Directive on fish health. The consignments have been subject to regular sampling by the Department's Fisheries Research Centre to verify their health status. While none of the listed shellfish diseases has been detected, some of the consignments have been found to contain other shellfish species and the parasite mytiliscola orientalis. These are not considered by EU veterinary experts to pose any significant threat to the growth rate and survival of oyster stocks. They are, however of some concern to the Department's scientific experts who are currently assessing the stocks in question.

In view of these concerns the Irish authorities have already negotiated the strengthening of the relevant directive to minimise the risk of inadvertent imports of other species in such consignments. We have also insisted that the French authorities apply more rigorous checks on stocks at source. As a further precaution, the industry has been advised to confine imports to nursery seed which is less likely to pose a problem.

It is primarily up to the Irish shellfish industry, in its own interest, to ensure that its members act responsibly when sourcing stock from abroad. The Department, for its part, will continue to deploy all mechanisms available under EU law to ensure that possible disease risks are minimised.