Ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghlacadh leis an Teachta a chuir an cheist seo tráthnóna. I appreciate the need to raise this point at this time of national crisis and I welcome the opportunity to explain the arrangements which operated until recently in relation to trade in lambs and sheep, particularly between Northern Ireland and the Republic. The Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development has made a number of the points I am about to make in the House on previous occasions, but I am happy to reiterate them in the context of the current situation.
I need hardly remind Deputies that as a member of the European Union, Ireland is obliged to operate within the rules of the Single Market. While for some member states this can be a mixed blessing, there is no doubt that from Ireland's point of view it has been of enormous benefit. Trade in agricultural produce is no exception to the general rule in relation to free trade. This means that it is not, in normal circumstances, possible to prohibit the free flow of trade in agricultural produce which is the subject of a common organisation of the market, from other member states.
Animal health precautions are, however, taken. Under EU legislation, sheep being exported from other member states must be accompanied by EU veterinary certification and be assigned to a particular holding or slaughterhouse. A separate certificate applies to each of three categories; sheep for breeding, sheep for fattening and sheep for slaughter. Details of each consignment of animals imported are required to be sent in advance to the local Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development office in the county of destination through the EU animal notification system, ANIMO.
Where trade with Northern Ireland is concerned, these requirements have, by bilateral arrangement, been removed since 1992 because, for the purposes of the sheep trade, both parts of this Island have the same health status. Under this arrangement, sheep of Northern Ireland origin may move freely into the Republic and vice versa. No animal health certificates are required for such trade and no ANIMO notifications are sent.
All of this changed on 21 February after the confirmation of the first case of foot and mouth disease in Essex. My colleague, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, announced a temporary ban on the importation of cattle, sheep, goats and pigs from the United Kingdom, including those from Northern Ireland. Since then both Army and Garda resources have been mobilised and 141 roads along the Border are manned. Controls are being rigorously enforced, and many of the calls received in my Department's call centre reflect a level of public frustration at the delays being experienced at the Border as a result of them. I appreciate people's frustration at being unable to complete their journeys in the normal timespan, but I think there is a general consensus that this is a small price to pay for preventing this dreadful virus from traversing our borders.
I read a report in today's media suggesting that as many as 8,000 sheep which should have been slaughtered in Northern Ireland may have been smuggled across the Border in the past two months. This assumption appears to be made on the basis that authorities in the North cannot match their number of sheep slaughtered with the numbers imported from Great Britain. However, I would like to put the figures in context. Each year between 3 and 3.5 million sheep are slaughtered in the Republic and in the past two months approximately 300,000 sheep have been slaughtered in Irish slaughterhouses.
The Department cannot account for events in other jurisdictions. Specific reports of smuggling are thoroughly investigated in conjunction with Garda authorities. There have been a number of very well publicised incidents of sheep having been imported from the North. The House will be aware that my Department has been tracing animals linked to Athleague, Kildare Chilling, Myshall in County Carlow, Claremorris in County Mayo and Castleblayney in County Monaghan. This work is continuing apace and, to date, there are no serious concerns in relation to animals connected with any of these incidents. As of this evening 573 herds are being investigated on a precautionary basis in this jurisdiction.
