Vol. 535 No. 4
73 Mr. McDowell asked the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources the number of UK ports in which vehicle spraying equipment has been installed on behalf of his Department, as part of efforts to combat foot and mouth disease; the total cost involved; if any contribution is being sought from the UK authorities to the cost; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12797/01]
As the Deputy may be aware, I announced on Friday, 6 April that I had secured the agreement of the authorities at the UK ports, which service vehicle and passenger routes to Ireland, to the installation of automatic vehicle spraying equipment for all vehicles embarking for Ireland. The ports involved were Liverpool, Holyhead, Heysham, Fishguard and Swansea. At our request the port authority at Pembroke agreed to adjust the systems in place. The spraying equipment was delivered and installed to the five UK ports over a seven day period from 20 April and the total cost of its installation was in the region of £105,000, which will be funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development. No contribution towards the cost has been sought from the UK authorities.
I am pleased to confirm that spraying facilities are now in place and are fully operational. The move to put in automatic spraying, paid for by Ireland, is not to be taken as a criticism of disinfection procedures in UK ports, in fact, the UK was required under EU law to put in place disinfection procedures. However, we decided that more effective spraying facilities, not required under EU law, would better protect us. We do business with UK ports every day and port authorities on both sides of the Irish Sea have excellent working relations. The decision to pay for these facilities, which was fully endorsed by the Government and the FMD task force, reflects the fact that it is the island of Ireland that will benefit. The consequences for Ireland of infectivity crossing the Irish Sea are so great that the highest quality disinfection procedures are clearly warranted and this is a proactive approach to assist and complement the stringent precautions already in place and also to support shipping operations.
