Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 January 2017
1361. Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the World Health Organization said last year that pre-harvest desiccation with glyphosate, as recommended by Teagasc, is probably carcinogenic; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41323/16]
Amharc ar fhreagra1362. Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his attention has been drawn to the fact that glyphosate has been linked to non-Hodgkins lymphoma, is a suspected endocrine disrupter and is banned in 11 countries, including France and the Netherlands. [41324/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 1361 and 1362 together.
My Department is aware of the International Agency for Cancer Research (IARC) report on glyphosate which had classified glyphosate as probably carcinogenic to humans. However, we are also aware that another World Health Organization affiliate, the Joint Meeting on Pesticide Residues, does not concur with the view of the IARC and concluded that glyphosate is unlikely to pose a carcinogenic risk to humans exposed via the diet.
The conclusion of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the regulatory authorities of other OECD countries is based on a large data set of high reliability and quality that identifies that glyphosate can be used safely. Indeed, in addition to the EU conclusions on glyphosate, the authorities of the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand have all published their reviews on glyphosate since 2015, concluding that glyphosate is probably not carcinogenic to humans and they do not intend imposing any additional conditions on the continued use of glyphosate. A further review of glyphosate by the European Chemicals Agency is currently on-going. This review will consider the classification of the active substance and should be available in the later part of 2017. The EU approval of glyphosate will be further considered when this review is available and my Department will base any future decisions on glyphosate on the EU approval decision.
While there is a greater necessity for crop desiccation in both the UK and Ireland due to our damp maritime climatic conditions and the practice is proven to be safe, it has been decided to discontinue the practice in cereal crops from 2017 and restrict pre-harvest application of glyphosate to that which is necessary to achieve the control of problematic weeds. This decision will be kept under review.
