Bluetongue: Statements
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-17
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Martin Heydon (FG), Kildare South

I thank all colleagues in the House for taking the time to engage in what is an important debate and asking a number of questions I would be happy to answer. I acknowledge the presence of hill farmers from Galway and Roscommon, as well as the president of Macra na Feirme and other representatives with Senator Brady.
In wrapping up, I will come back to each of the points that has been raised directly. I thank the Deputies who acknowledged the meetings I and my officials held and the ongoing engagement with members of the committee on agriculture, which have been important. Everyone has mentioned the stress and strain farmers face. Deputy Carthy outlined the horrendous weather we have experienced in recent times and the stress that brings. We all have a role to play in terms of being able to communicate clear answers. It is important that I am able to answer some of the questions from Deputies.
A lot of points have been raised. Deputy Kenny was the first to ask about the situation with regard to the North. It was a very clear question. Deputy Carthy and others also highlighted that. It is important to bear in mind that the decisions a member state takes on what it allows into its jurisdiction is a decision for it to make. As outlined in my opening remarks, it is possible to secure derogations to general rules to allow member states to act differently from a disease prevalence perspective. However, different member states cannot be treated differently. If a derogation is given for bluetongue, it is not just for serotype 3, which we have and which is the most prominent one, but it is for serotypes 1 to 24, inclusive, and applies to every member state. Therefore, how we treat one member state is how we treat everybody.
Deputy Fitzmaurice outlined videos online and different elements there. We are very much in the hands of the countries we trade with. From a market access perspective, that is no different from the export certificates that my veterinary teams negotiate with third countries or anywhere else. It is probably more unusual that it would happen in the European context, but from a disease-prevalence perspective that is how we engage. We have closely engaged with Northern Ireland. I had an online meeting with my counterpart in Northern Ireland, Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Andrew Muir, around where it is at in terms of its restrictions. It is on a different trajectory having identified it earlier before Christmas. We also spoke about the inroads we are making here and how we can try to harmonise our approaches in time. There are decisions for Northern Ireland to make in terms of what it allows into its jurisdiction, the same as there are for us as well in that. We have to be cognisant of what we allow in terms of the broader macro picture across Europe because dealing with Northern Ireland is the same as dealing with a member state due to the agreements that are in place. I am meeting Minister in person later this week and we will take the opportunity to engage on this issue, but our officials, including my Chief Veterinary Officer and members of my veterinary teams, are in constant contact with Northern Ireland as well. We are aware of the pressure and stress that this brings in that space.
Deputy Kenny and other Members raised the area of trade, in particular China, and the importance of regaining access for skins and hides. As I did in my opening address, I pay tribute to my officials who deal with market access and our officials in the embassy in Beijing who have worked very closely with Chinese officials in the General Administration of Customs of China, GAC. That is an important avenue and market for us. There was concern here when that avenue was closed to us and while we have made progress on the skins and hides, I continue to work on the area of the broader protocol. The approach to atypical BSE cases, which are completely sporadic and which are recognised by other member states as being one-off, has not in any way impacted on our negligible health status for BSE at the World Organisation for Animal Health level. A change in that protocol, regaining market access, would allow Irish food companies to invest in personnel on the ground to build those relationships without the fear of that market continuously ebbing and flowing. As we know, atypical BSE cases will happen sporadically. That is something I continue to work on with my officials.
Deputy Newsome Drennan raised the follow-up and surveillance. That has been extensive. She also said that there are questions that need to be answered about tracking and tracing. Our surveillance has been significant and extensive not just in Wexford but nationwide. It was not surprising that I unfortunately had to announce an additional case in this House today. That will happen because the more testing and tracking and surveillance we do, the more chances there are of being able to find it.
Deputies O'Donoghue, Whitmore and others talked about climate change. Climate change is a reality and that is why the enhanced biosecurity measures we have in place are important. We are in a changing environment and our warming temperatures and the changes around climate change are leading to what once would have been called exotic diseases becoming prevalent and established here. Deputy Whitmore also talked about expanding the vector sampling needed for climate resilience. My Department has the national animal health surveillance strategy, which guides our surveillance and guides our measures in that regard.
Deputies Aird and Callaghan thanked the officials and also spoke about the Chinese protocol, which I have dealt with.
Deputy Bennett raised about all-island approach, which I have also addressed. She also spoke about biosecurity. Great credit is due for successfully keeping it off the island before now. Let us consider our successful efforts when avian influenza became established here. We got our disease-free status back within three months. When that arrived in November at the start of the high-risk period, there was a very strong sense that we were facing into a very tough winter. The partnership and collaboration between our poultry sector, private veterinary practitioners and our regional veterinary officers really has delivered. The adoption of the enhanced biosecurity measures that I put in place has been important.
I agree with Deputy Collins about the need for clear information. I answer every question that I can and my Department's door is always open. He also spoke about the continuing work we do on accessing markets.
I agree with Deputy Lawless to a certain extent. It is not positive to have it here, but if we are going to find it, it is positive to have the winter months and the time to prepare and to respond. We will continue to do that in real time. The Deputy also raised the point about bulls. It is a fact that it can be spread by bulls in semen, so it is prudent for farmers to consider blood testing when buying bulls and rams before they go breeding. These are elements that it is prudent for farmers to reflect upon. I agree that it is important not to catastrophise these issues because we will deal with them in real time.
Deputy Fitzmaurice mentioned specific countries. I prefer not to focus on specific countries but, in general, we work closely between third markets and European markets. We have changed some veterinary health certificates around disease status. We have been working on that for the past two years and we continue to do that around a range of different diseases.
Deputy Healy-Rae questioned how midges survived from Northern Ireland to Wexford. Our very strong sense is that this infection did not come from Northern Ireland. It is not connected to the outbreaks in Northern Ireland but is much more likely to have come over on the wind from England or Wales. During the warmer weather, we monitored the wind patterns with Met Éireann and UCD. Midges blowing over the Irish Sea was a much more likely cause of this spread. The first animal that tested positive was in a field beside the sea, one of the first places it could have landed. It is not likely at all that imported straw is a contributing factor. Are cattle safe if they are housed? It is related to the activity of midges. The temperature needs to be constantly north of 12oC for the disease to be able to travel in midges as vectors. Can humans spread it? No. Can birds spread it? No. What are we doing in Wexford? The height of surveillance being employed is across the board and not just in Wexford. It is across the country, as is the tracking and tracing.
An important point to make is that there will not be large-scale restrictions in the summertime because the disease is being recategorised in July across the EU. That will make life easier for us in some ways. It was not something we wanted when we were free of this disease. We wanted to be able to identify as quickly as possible. We did not want to lose our disease-free status, but now it is gone. We were the last of the European countries to be in that space, so there will be some relaxation of how we operate with that from July onwards. The roll out of vaccines will be a commercial decision for farmers. My role was to make it available and make sure we engaged with vaccine companies so that stock would be available. It is a commercial decision and we continue to work on that basis.
I thank my colleagues for engaging constructively on this matter. My door and the door of my officials continue to be open. We want to reassure farmers and consumers that there are no health or food safety concerns around bluetongue. This is a production disease that has significant concerns for farmers. I will continue to work with my officials across the Department and with other countries to minimise the worst impacts of this.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-17/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:38+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-17