Vol. 533 No. 5
12 Mr. Hayes asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development his views on the need to establish a single veterinary inspection regime here in the context of the recent outbreak of foot and mouth disease in Britain; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7860/01]
The establishment of a single veterinary regime for the island of Ireland would require agreement between the Government and that of the United Kingdom and the Northern Ireland Assembly. A considerable amount of work has already taken place, under the aegis of the North-South Ministerial Council, to seek possibilities for collaboration and co-operation in a range of animal health areas and this will continue.
In the context of the present foot and mouth situation there are potential advantages to a common veterinary regime, assuming that it would be possible to ensure that controls equivalent to those operating between this jurisdiction and Great Britain, the Netherlands and France, were also operating between Northern Ireland and those countries.
This question is extremely complex. Any decision to establish a single veterinary regime on this island would require both parts of it to have equivalent animal health status. There is a very considerable amount of equivalence. The situation is complicated by the fact that the high incidence of BSE in the UK herd has meant that the exportation of livestock from Northern Ireland has been banned since 1996. There is also an over 30 month regime operating in the UK where such bovine animals are excluded from the food chain. Therefore, there are some obstacles to the establishment of a single veterinary regime on this island.
I would emphasise that there has been an excellent degree of co-operation between ourselves and Northern Ireland on animal health issues. I will continue to focus on developing this relationship both at ministerial and official level. That co-operation is especially important in our efforts to eliminate foot and mouth disease from Ireland.
